It was a Tuesday
by killerjen231
Summary: What happens when Ashley is placed in a beginning guitar class that Spencer is the teachers assistant for? Read and leave feedback to find out! On hiatus as of 9 March 2013 - Sorry!
1. Day 1

Author's Note: So, I decided to take a break from writing about how hot people from Ohio are, and write this story. It's semi-autobiographical, and most things written were true at the time, but are not like that now. I used the South of Nowhere characters in place of real people, but the people they are playing in the story correspond to a real counter part (Except in real life I don't have 2 brothers). I'm not sure how long or short this one will be, but I hope it is enjoyed. Leave lots of feedback!

* * *

It was a Tuesday. It was Tuesday, July 29, 2008. The first day of the last year of high school. I couldn't believe that I had made it this far. Through all of the bullshit that's happened to me so far. Sometimes I'm amazed at how I'm still here after all of the thoughts run themselves through my mind. Sometimes I get really scared. Sometimes I just want all of my suffering to end. But then I wake up and my school day starts all over again… And it's always the same.

Wake up at 6:30am and snooze until 7:00am at the latest. Shower if I need to, don't if I don't. Get dressed, go downstairs and eat something if I'm hungry enough, head back up the stairs and brush my teeth and hair, skip the make-up since I don't wear it, then watch TV or finish homework until I have to drive my little brother Glenn to school. He's 14 months younger than me, but we've never really been close. I also drive my neighbor Sean to school. It's an agreement our parents have. I drive Sean to school if they drive my other younger brother Clay, who is less than 2 months shy of being 5 years younger than me, to the middle school down the street.

We arrive at school by 7:50am, and I park near the same spot every day. Closest to the school that I can get, parked by the sidewalk by the Tennis courts, backed into the spot and with my sun blocking windshield thing on. If it was gonna be over 100° outside then I am not gonna leave my car exposed to that. Then I walk over to the band room, where I hang out with some of my friends.

I'm not sure if I would even call them friends. What makes a friend anyways? If I had to think about it, I wouldn't consider any of these people true friends. They are my friends that I hang out with everyday; they are my friends that I hang out with when I go to school functions. But, would I trust these friends to have my back no matter what? I'm not sure about that.

I'm usually one of the last ones there. Sometimes I'll be the first one there, but I don't like that. I don't like to look like a loser hanging out by myself. Don't get me wrong, I know a lot of people, but I'm not friends with them or anything. Over the years, I have made acquaintances with people from almost every group of people. There was Madison of the cheerleaders, Aiden of the jocks, Kyla of the theater kids (which sometimes mix with the band kids). Then there was her.

There was Ashley. That beautiful brunette. I had a few classes with her, and I think she knows who I am. But, she's not part of my group, let alone any particular group. She was one of those people who could get along with just about anyone from almost any group of people. She had her own fashion sense. She liked to wear short skirts, as short as dress code would allow her to, and accompany that with any variety of shirts or tank tops or whatever she felt like wearing.

I finally arrived and started talking with my friends. We talked about various things from the summer; what we did, who we hung out with, the drama of it, and the calm of it. Then, the first bell rang at 8:10am. Damn. Now I had to go to class. Well, at least half of my classes are my band classes.

This year, I had 7 classes instead of 8. It was senior year, so we got the choice of either taking 8 classes or taking 7 and getting either a late start or an early leave. I decided that I wanted to leave early and do as little as I possibly could. Thus explains my schedule of 3 band classes, one period of being a teacher's assistant for the band teacher, and various other required classes to fill the other 3 spots. Yes, I know. I am a super band geek.

This year, I'm not only playing my Trumpet, but I'm playing the French Horn in the concert band. There are 3 band classes I will be in. The first is the symphonic band. I've been participating in that one since I was a freshman. The symphonic band is the advanced band, and you have to audition to get in. The exception is if you're asked by the teacher to help it out if it's short on students, like it was that year. There were only 4 trumpets, so my classmates Clarissa and Jaime were asked to help out. Then, Jaime was asked to permanently join the symphonic band, but they also needed another trumpet. I was the next one in line, so I was asked to help out. I did and now have a permanent spot in it. I will be playing Trumpet in that one.

Then you have the concert band. Concert band is considered the beginning band. All new students must be in it. This year, I'll be playing French Horn with Jaime. Both of us have never really played it before so it will be a fun experience. Both concert and symphonic bands are also marching bands during the Fall semester. I participated in it when I was a freshman, but decided against it for sophomore and junior years. Instead I started playing on the girls golf team with my old English teacher.

The final band that I'm in was the Jazz band. When I was a freshman, there were 2 Jazz bands, similar to the format of the classical type of band. This year, there was only one though, which meant that I was being forced to be in this band with the freshman. Then, I'm a teaching assistant a different period altogether, so I was excited for this year.

First and second period were concert and symphonic bands. Then there was lunch. I usually hung out in the band room during lunch, but decided against it this first day. I grabbed my lunch and headed out the door that connects the cafeteria to the band room. Walking down the stairs, I glanced around looking for some people I know. Seeing a group of people, I walked over to where they were sitting. I was greeted with smiles and waves so I sat down.

"Hey nerd!" I heard Aiden say to me in a joking manner as I sat next to him. I respond with a "Hey jock!" as we all pull our schedules out to see if we have any classes together. I had English with Madison and Economics with Madison and Aiden. Both of those classes were tomorrow.

"Hey can I join you?"

We all turned to see Kyla standing there with a smile on her face and a copy of some play in her hands. Aiden forces Madison to move, and waves to Kyla to have her sit next to him. She does and I swear I see a spark between them.

"So, what's the plan for this year Spence?" Madison asks as I'm just looking around the room aimlessly.

"Not much, just gonna try get through this year so that I can move out of my parent's house after schools over."

"It's not really that bad, it is?" I hear Kyla ask.

"That depends on your definition of bad. It's not that easy living a lie ya know."

They all nodded in agreement at that. They all knew I was gay, have known since at least sophomore year when I came out at school. My brother Glenn has been great. He had been one of my biggest supporters. My brother Clay on the other hand, not so much. Although he knows, he doesn't say anything directly in front of my parents. But, he does make fun of me a lot. One of his favorites is to call me "Lezlie". He loves to put extra emphasis on the lez part of that as well, just to rub it in. But, then again he is only 12 while I'm 17.

As for my parents, neither are the easiest to live with. My mom, who works very hard, has asked me multiple times if I have a boyfriend or if there are any cute boys at school. My answer is and always will be no, and no. My dad on the other hand hasn't ever said anything directly to me, which I find much scarier than my mom's constant boy talk. Especially after last year.

Let me explain. Last school year I was doing this awesome decades project for my US History class, and my group had the 80's. We needed a camera man, and I knew Aiden would help me out. Well, over the course of the project, Aiden asked me out. At that point, I hadn't fully realized that I was gay yet, although I had already come out as so. Aiden really liked me, and I thought he was alright, so I agreed to go out with him. He continued to be my camera man, and I continued to try to sort through my feelings. I liked him, just not like that. Man, I wish I could have sometimes. I wish that he and I could have just been happy and that I wasn't like this and that I was just like everyone else. It would make things so much easier if I just liked him.

But I didn't. Not that way. When I told him, it practically broke his heart. He was dumped by his girlfriend about 1 month earlier, so I tried to let him down easy. Although he had already known me all year, and that he knew that I might be gay, I felt really bad letting him think he had a chance when I should have known better. But, me and him are pretty good friends now. I can honestly say that Aiden is one of my better friends, and that I would 100% trust him with my life.

The bell rang, and I headed towards my next class. For third period, I was the TA for my band teacher, and he had a beginning guitar class that period so I nodded at him and headed towards my instrument locker to grab my Trumpet. I took it through the door that leads to the stage, and past the teacher's office. I went into the music library that was in the first door past the corner. I grabbed a plastic stand from the rack and used that to hold the door open as I went back to get my French Horn. I loaded both items into the room, and let the stand keep it open until I come back with my sheet music. I walk back through the short hallway and past his office again. He was in there getting some paperwork together and waved at me to go into the big room and socialize. As I turn away from the window between the 2 doors, I see her.

I see Ashley Davies walk right into the classroom, take a seat by my locker by herself, and look around nervously.

"Spencer, will you call the class to order and tell them that I'll be there in about 2 minutes."

"Sure, no problem" I guess I just froze there once I saw her, so he took that opportunity to give me an order, which I didn't have a problem with.

It was her I had a problem with.


	2. Day 1 Part 2

Author's Note: The school schedule is based upon my old school schedule which was 4 classes per day, 90 minute classes. There are "A" and "B" days. Period 1-4 are on A and Period 5-8 are on B.

* * *

I walk through the door and towards the front of the room, which just so happens to be by my locker as well. I swallowed hard as I walked past her and towards the podium. She smiled at me, and probably thought that I was going to sit next to her or something, I don't know. I watched her face change to a slightly more confused one as I stepped up and called the class to order.

"Hey everyone, Mr. Chill will be out here in about 2 minutes. So, that's all you have to socialize. When he comes out here, he wants your full attention."

"Sounds good" I heard someone say from behind the drum cabinets.

"And please don't move or touch anything in and around the drum cabinets and drum room." With that, I was finished and the buzz had started up again, but at a lower volume than before. I wonder what Ashley was thinking about.

As I stepped down from the podium, I walked back past Ashley, but this time she grabbed my arm to keep me from leaving. I got shocked. Literally. Damn nasty carpet in the band room. Even though we didn't know what half the stains were, it still gave off quite the shock.

"Oh My Gosh! Sorry about that Spencer! I hope that I didn't hurt you too bad."

"Oh no, I'm fine Ashley. It's okay" I say as I grab a chair and set it next to her. She starts talking to me about the class. Apparently, the school had placed her here to help Mr. Chill teach the class.

"That's so cool! Are you getting paid for it?"

"No, not at all. Do you know how to play?"

"No, not at all", I say imitating her and smiling. She smiles back at me and then looks up to see Mr. Chill walking towards the podium, stack of papers in hand.

"Hello everyone, and welcome to Beginning Guitar", he begins before he starts to take role. He gets to the end of the list, and I notice that he hasn't said either of our names. "Now that I've finished role, I wanted to introduce you all to my 2 TAs for this semester." He raises his right hand up from his side, open hand, and waves it towards us. We both stand and wave as he says each of our names.

"This is Spencer Carlin" he starts. "Spencer is a senior" he paused because some of the younger students gasped a little. "She is in almost all of my other music classes and plays trumpet and French horn. She may be little, but she's got a lot of heart."

He moves on to Ashley. "This is Ashley Davies. She's a senior as well. She is an amazing guitar player that I've been trying to get into my jazz band since her freshman year." She turns her head to the right, chucking and blushing ever so slightly. "If I'm ever not here, Ashley will be your teacher." He pauses again, then just to us he says, "I won't need you girls today, why don't you show Ashley around Spencer?" I nod as we get up and head towards the stage. I'm careful not to forget my sheet music as I walk through the door into the hallway.

I show her around the stage, describing things as I go. Over there were the practice rooms, with the plastic stand racks in front of them. On the other side of the stage there was the teacher's lounge. I told her about all of our fun antics from the past three years. I could feel myself rambling, but she didn't seem to mind. She just listened as I spoke. I told her about how the trumpet section was the best section because we get to practice in there. I opened to door to it only to get a waft of some nasty lunch someone warmed up in the microwave. Again.

"Umm, I'll show you that room another time."

"Sure."

We head back across the stage towards the music library. It's still being held open by the stand, so we go right in. I bring the stand with me as I let the door fall shut behind me.

"Have you ever taught anyone anything before?" I ask as we get settled.

She smiles and says, "Oh, well I taught this one girl a thing or two once."

I smiled back and said cool before putting my sheet music onto the stand. I opened my trumpet case, and took out the 2 pieces and put them together. As much as I loved music, I hated this trumpet. It was a nasty Jupiter brand student edition that I've had since 6th grade or so. If my dad wasn't so cheap I might have gotten a better one once I started high school.

I blew some air through it as I moved the valves. My first 2 were fine, but my 3rd valve was a little sticky. I could feel Ashley's eyes on me as I went through the motions of making my trumpet jive again. I unscrewed the valve took it out and it on the stand, careful as not to get any oil on the papers. I reached into my case and grabbed my valve oil and applied to the spring before putting the valve back into its place. I screw the valve in and test it. I look up to see Ashley definitely intrigued as I put the oil back in my case.

"What was that?" She asks referring to the oil.

"That was some valve oil. It makes sure that the springs work properly and move reasonably well."

"Oh cool! How long have you been playing?"

"I started the trumpet when I was 10 years old, and have been playing this one since I was in 7th grade or so. I just started the horn this year though" I said pointing towards the French horn.

"Is it hard to play?"

"Not as hard as guitar. I wish I could play that, but I think my hands are just too small."

"Your hands are cute. They're like little baby hands!" She takes my left hand into hers so that she can inspect it, and I swear that my heart just stops beating altogether. I have extremely small hands. Smaller than anyone I've ever met. My fingernails are short, stubby almost, and the cuticles are torn up from my habit of messing with them. I have a crescent shaped scar on the knuckle closest to my palm on my middle finger. It's from my brother Clay. He never did seem to like me much. I have small scars dotted random places, some close enough that I tell people I got bit by something even though I never did. Then she turns my hand over and her face turns quizzical.

"How did that happen?" She says referring to the pencil lead that's in my palm.

"When I was in 3rd grade, I was sharpening my pencil at my desk. The next thing I knew, the pencil lead had broken and stabbed itself into that spot."

"But you couldn't get it out?" She asks still a little confused.

"Nope. I came home and showed my dad and he tried for hours with a pair of tweezers to get it out. It was just too deep in there. My mom said that the lead will just dissolve but leave that color behind. I look at it as a constant reminder that I need to be careful when sharpening pencils." I smirk as I say, "Or just too always use mechanical pencils."

I see the smile creep back onto her face and she chuckles. She's still holding my hand in hers, and her thumb started to slowly, but gently stroke over the lead. It tickles, but feels nice. I can't help but smile even bigger as she does that.

The smile is gone from her face now, and she seems serious. She had been looking down at my hand, but now looked up at my face, trying to study it I think.

"So, do your parents know?" I hear her ask as I jump back into reality.

"Know what?"

She waits a few seconds before continuing. "Do your parents know that you're gay?"

"No, and they can't find out." Although pretty much everyone at school knew, I knew that if my parents ever found out that I was, I would be kicked out of the house. Even though I've already planned on leaving after I graduate, I'd really like to be able to stay there until then.

"Oh."

"So Ashley, would you like to hear me play something?"

"I most certainly would."

I pick out some sheet music and get my trumpet ready. I have been holding my mouthpiece in my right hand this whole time, and put it in its place. I looked over at her. She was leaning back in the chair the best she could (as these chairs are made to make you sit up straight) with her left hand on her chin and her arm draped over her stomach. She wasn't smiling, but just watching me as I got it ready and started to play. I decided to play First Suite and Eb and practice the solo parts. She didn't move too much when I was playing, but as soon as I was done she sat up and clapped.

I smiled through my now red lips with a ring around them. "Thank you, thank you" I say as I smile and stand and give a bow.

"Hey Ashley, what time is it?"

"It's about 1:15pm. We should get ready for our next class." I nod and pack up all of my stuff. She offers to help me carry it to my locker, but I tell her I've got it and prop the door again. I grab my trumpet in one hand and my horn in the other and walk to go put them in my locker. Ashley insists on helping some way, so I give her my sheet music to carry. She's not satisfied with this, and tells me she'll hold the door open for me.

She jogs ahead of me about 3 paces and opens the door to a noise filled band room. She wasn't satisfied with how closed the door was, so she opened it until a 90° angle. I try to walk past her without bumping her or hurting her, but I can't so I turn to face her and move like a crab through the door frame.

She's a little taller than me, as I'm only 5 foot, but I think she's around 5'3". As I passed her, I looked up at her face to see her looking down at me. She had a half smile on her face as I quickly walked past her and towards my locker, to which she followed me. I put my instruments away and took my music from her to put it in there too. Then, the bell rang and I grabbed my backpack. I locked my locker and headed towards the big double doors that led outside. I turned around to see if I could catch one last glimpse of her. She was talking to Mr. Chill about something.

She turned and started towards the single door that led to the band hallway. Then she looked up at me.

Our eyes met and we both blushed and smiled.


	3. Day 2

Author's Note: Sorry this one is kinda short. But I think that this will get better with time.

_Review Responses:_

**Cornish**: Thank you!

**FFReviews**: It means that they are both the TAs for Mr. Chill. In my school, a teacher could have up to 2 TAs per class. Also, I haven't thought or written that far ahead yet, so we will see!

**ItsMeCharlee**: Thank you! Yes, I do play them in real life. My hands aren't coordinated enough to play guitar though, but I have played drums before.

* * *

Now it was Wednesday. Our first "B" day of the year. I'm super excited because I have a couple of classes with Madison, one with Aiden, and I also have Jazz Band and no 8th period. That means I get out at 1:30 instead of 3:00pm. Sweet!

Jazz band is first, and I'm easily on time, hell even early. Mr. Chill is usually here only about 5-10 minutes before the first bell, so usually we have to wait outside for him to get here. In the summer, it's great to be outside in the mornings before it reached 90° by noon. By winter though, I'm usually with some of my other friends in the cafeteria trying to stay warm. But, by spring again I'm right back in the band room.

We finish for the day and I head to my English class. I'm excited because I have the same cool teacher as last year, and my brother Glen has him this year too. Mr. Baker was an awesome teacher. He was kind of a hippie with long hair, riding his bike to get to work, and speaking with some interesting sentence structure. Last year he called me Carl, and I expect nothing else from him but a continuance of that nickname. I wonder what he will call my brother.

We file in and I pick a seat near Madison. It's on the left side of the room which is near the door, closer to the front than back, but in the middle as well. I decided to sit in front of Madison since I was smaller than her and needed to be able to see the board better.

Mr. Baker starts to take role and when he gets to my name he calls it then looks up at me and smiles while saying, "So Carl, how was your summer?" I respond with a good and a head nod before he continues.

The rest of the class is pretty uneventful. He goes over the syllabus and gives us a book list. The lunch bell rings, and the other students scurry out of the class in a hurry. I don't rush, but I don't take forever either, I just go with the flow as I pack my backpack and head towards the band room.

The only lockers my school has are located in the band room. My district decided to stop using the ones at our rival school, and skip putting them into mine after it was built in the mid '90s. Therefore, every day before school, during lunch and after school I go to the band room to get the right supplies and leave the wrong ones. If I don't have to carry around extra stuff, why would I?

Today I again decide to go to the cafeteria. As much as I love my band friends, sometimes there is just too much drama. For example: my friend Chelsea used to sleep with our mutual friend Brick, but then started dating this other chick in band named Coco. Then Coco started cheating on Chelsea with our other mutual friend who didn't go to this school (who happens to be Coco's ex-girlfriend too). Like I said, it's all a bit much to handle, so I'd rather avoid it.

I see Aiden and Madison already saving a table for us and I head over and take a seat. They are gossiping about something or another, so I wait until they finish talking to say hey.

"Spencer!" I hear someone calling my name so I look around to see where it's coming from. At first, I can't see who said it, but I keep looking around with no luck. Aiden heard it too, and gives me a questioning look. I shrug him off and open my sack lunch.

"Hey Spencer, what's up?" I hear from behind me. I turn around to see Ashley standing there. Aiden waves and invites her to sit down, and Madison just ignores everyone and focuses on eating. Ashley takes a seat next to me, as Aiden and Madison were sitting next to each other and I was on the end by myself.

"Not much, just about to eat some lunch. You?"

"Nothing, the same." Ashley takes out her own bag lunch and sets it down on the table, spilling its contents as it tips and falls over. I pour the contents of my own sack out on the table and inspect what I have: a sandwich with some kind of meat, a tapioca pudding snack, a juice drink, some type of chips, but no spoon. Ashley has a similar lunch except for a sugar free applesauce instead of a sugar loaded pudding snack.

"What classes do you have left Ash?" I hear Aiden ask.

"Today I just have my English class left, and 8th period off."

"What the hell, you and Spencer both took afternoons off? I thought we were all gonna try for the mornings."

I speak up and say, "Aiden we talked about this. I can't have mornings off because I have to take my brother and neighbor to school. I'm lucky I even got that off." He nods in understanding and starts talking to Madison again.

Ashley turns to me and looks me up and down. Today I'm wearing some Levi Jeans, a white shirt with DC on it in green and blue, and my all gray shoelace free shoes. My hair is parted wherever it decided to this morning after my shower, and I have no makeup on. I'm carrying a jacket around with me because you never know how cold a classroom will be. My all black Jansport backpack has been customized by yours truly. I took a silver sharpie and sketched "Shorty" on it using block letters and that cool looking "gangser S" (A/N: I'll include a link to a picture of it). But, the sharpie has started to fade.

"What's your plan for after school?" She asks me.

"Not much. Just gonna go home and get in some horn practice in some peace and quiet."

"Oh." She sounds disappointed. "That's cool, I was thinking about going shopping at the mall after school."

"That sounds like fun."

"Shopping alone is never fun Spence." She pauses here, then continues, "Anyways, I've got to go now and cause some mischief! Peace out!" With that, she struts away from our table and tosses her garbage away on the way out. I watch her leave, and she turns back and looks at me through the double doors as they closed. I thought that maybe she would come back, but all she did was smile and continue on her way.

"Look whose blushing!" I hear from Madison's mouth. "Someone has a crush!"

"No way!" I lie as I shake my head no. "I barely know the girl." That's not a lie.

"Spencer, be careful with her though. You know her rep." Aiden said a little concerned.

"Look Aiden, Madison; I know her rep, I know what I've heard and you've heard and what everyone says about her. But, I think there's something more to her than that. I think she's…" I get cut off by the lunch bell.

"Shit!" I say as I gather my stuff and we all walk towards the Econ class we have together.

* * *

Here's that link btw: dragoart.


	4. Day 5

Author's Note: At my old high school, there were 4 buildings and 4 quads. There was the Admin building (aka 'A') then there were buildings B, C, D, and E which held classrooms. These were also students home buildings. They would be associated with their building for 4 years. For example, my sister and I had C building but my brother was E building. Then we had H, I, J, and A quads. Yes, my school was slightly confusing.

_Review Responses:_

**ItsMeCharlee**: I know, I'm a jerk :-) We will be finding out soon enough what she thinks.

**Cornish:** True. We will see how she really is soon enough.

* * *

The rest of the week was uneventful. Band went as usual; I made a shitload of copies of sheet music for Mr. Chill; I found out that Mr. Baker was calling Glenn 'Carl Jr.' (A/N: My real teacher did call me and my sister Marinara and another teacher used to call us Mooch and Mooch Jr.); and in Econ, Aiden Madison and I all sat by each other.

Every time that I thought that Ashley and I would get a chance to hang out in the guitar class it seemed like Mr. Chill had something for me to do. It was bad enough that I had to practically wait every other day to see her, and then there were weekends. Screw weekends.

Most people like weekends, but I kinda hate them. Weekends and after my parents come home from work are the 2 times that I sorta hate. I mean, don't get me wrong. I love my parents and siblings and family, I just hate their beliefs. I absolutely hate it when my mom starts talking about how she had gay friends in Choir when she was in high school, and how she didn't have a problem with them, she just didn't like their life choices. That what being gay was to my parents. A choice.

Regardless, the less time I spent at home the better. The less time I spent with my parents, the better. Usually when I get home from school my dad has just gotten there with Clay and John (Sean's little brother). John would wait for Sean in our house then they would all head home. I would then proceed to grab a quick snack, eat it at the table (we aren't allowed to eat on the couches or other rooms), and head upstairs. My room is the first at the end of the stairwell, and I love it. It has one normal window, and has 3 smaller windows. I loved those smaller windows because they let in the morning light, and I could get a good feel for how the weather would be that day.

I drop my backpack on my red circular chair and look at my homework list. Reading and writing, some vocab for econ, and I'm supposed to be practicing for band. I had left my instruments at school, so that was that. I grabbed my English and econ books and my binder and headed towards my parents room. I plopped down on the couch they had in there and turned the TV on. Checking the channels, I decided on watching Judge Judy, always a good choice.

I could already hear my dad downstairs passed out on the couch, ESPN on and snoring. He worked really hard and woke up at like 4 in the morning so he needed these naps. My brothers were playing the x-box in the guest room.

At 5:00pm my mom got home. My dad woke to her presence and greeted her with a kiss and hug. She headed upstairs and went into her closet, asking me how my day was. I answer her the same way I answered my dad. She changed in her closet then went downstairs to start dinner. As hard as my dad works, my mom works just as hard if not harder. She travels twice as far as him, works from 7am-4pm, then comes home and makes dinner. Like I said, I love them just not their beliefs.

Girls Golf would be starting soon, and this was the first year that I was going to start to drive myself to practices. This was my 3rd year playing, and I wasn't that good. I was the only person in my grade to be on this team, so that was cool.

Tomorrow it would be Monday. The first one of the year and the first practice of the season. Today, Mr. Chill was out of class because he had a family emergency. Since he didn't have anything planned for the guitar class, the substitute put a movie on. This sub was one of my favorites. He always gave out Caramel Apple Pops to the students who were behaving. And it wasn't hard to behave in a class like this.

I told the sub that I was the TA, and that if he wants I can take roll for him. He let me, then I ran it to the office. When I returned, I saw Ashley sitting inside by my locker again. She looked at me as I tried to quietly open the door. I went to talk to the substitute again and inform him that Ashley was also a TA. He shook his head to acknowledge my statement, then I asked him if I could go and practice in a practice room. He nodded again, so I walked the short distance past Ashley to my locker. She smiled as I passed her and I tried to get all of my stuff as silently as I could. She gave me a questioning look as I pointed to a practice room then mouthed 'Join me?'

She nodded then grabbed my sheet music for me. We walked across the room and into a practice room. They were small, but insulated so the other students shouldn't be able to hear us talking.

We sat on the ground across from each other and I unloaded my trumpet from its case. I put the trumpet on its stand that I just got and took the mouthpiece in my hand to blow into it. I made it make noise as I warmed it up and heard her snickering. I gave her a questioning look.

"I'm sorry, it just sounds funny. It sounds way better when the whole thing is put together."

"Yeah, but this is a good way to warm up the mouthpiece."I smiled and brought the mouthpiece back to my lips. I didn't want to sit here playing my trumpet, I wanted to lay here playing with her.

"How are your classes going?" I hear her ask as I put the mouthpiece into its slot in my trumpet.

"They're good so far. I have some of the same teachers I have last year so that's cool." She nodded with approval of my answer before I gestured for her to answer.

"Well" she began, "I have all the usual classes with all the usual teachers. Classes are boring and lame because I have no good people to talk to in them. Not like this class." She smiled at me.

My heart started beating faster. "That's cool. I've got a couple of classes with Madison and one with Aiden."

She makes a disgusted face. "Gosh I swear Madison hates me."

"It's not that she hates you or anyone else, she just doesn't like most people." Ashley shook her head in approval of my statement, crinkling her nose in the process. It was probably one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

We kept talking for awhile about various topics. I learned that her father had passed and her mother was a bitch. She learned my parents work hard but have whacked out beliefs. I learned that she was single, and she learned that I was starting golf today. We learned that we both loved Disney movies, and agreed with one another that most of the new ones suck.

We stop talking for a minute, and I can see in her face that she wants to ask me something personal. I smile to try to tell her that she can ask me anything. She could ask me to do anything and I'd do it, but she can ask me anything and I'd answer.

"So…" She begins, "Have you ever had a girlfriend before?"

Although I thought she was going to ask me something like this, I was a bit surprised. I began nervously, "Well, funny thing about that. Ummm… No."

She smiles at my innocence. "That's ok. I've only dated a few myself, and never anyone seriously."

My mouth literally dropped open. I thought that I was the only one in our grade who was a lesbian. I guess not?

She started laughing and said, "What? You didn't know?" I shook my head since my throat had become very dry. I could tell she was reading my thoughts as she said, "I've dated guy and girls, but I don't really get a connection with guys the way I do with girls. I always date outside of our school so that no one will know, and if anyone does find out I threaten them to keep their mouth shut." I was nodding at the end of every sentence. "To make things short, I don't like labels, never have, never will. But, if I had to label myself, I'd just label myself one of you."

My heart is beating so fast now that she can probably hear it. Shit, say something Spencer!

"That's cool." What the hell was that?!

She nods and looks down at her hands. I moved to sit next to her. She didn't seem to notice as I moved, inching slowly but surely towards her.

"What's it like?" She asked me. Confused, I asked her what she meant. "What's it like to be so pure, so innocent, so…" She trailed off

"Virginal?" I finished for her. She looked me in the eyes and nodded. I explained to her my situation.

"Sometimes I hate it" I began. "Sometimes I think that I'm just a loser. A lot of people are having sex; I mean you, my brother (eww), and most people in band." I paused here to think a second before continuing. "But, then again, I think of it as kind of cool. How many people now-a-days can say what I can say? Not many. People tell me that I can't say I'm gay until I have sex with a guy, but for me that's not the case."

She looked intrigued to I continued. "Who was your celebrity crush when you were a kid?" She thinks about it for a minute before responding with 'JTT'. "When I was a kid, I used to look at these celebrities and think that something was wrong with me. My friends would say how hot people like JTT and Leo DiCaprio are. I didn't see it. Instead, I was thinking about how hot Jennifer Love Hewitt was or Katie Holmes. My mom used to ask me all the time, and I used to have to make it up."

We were facing each other now. I looked into her eyes to see if I could read her thoughts. I couldn't. I checked the time, it was 1:18pm. Damn.

"Hey, class is almost over so we had better get this all put away."

She nodded and grabbed my music. I didn't play my trumpet, but I didn't care. I put it away and walked through the door that Ashley was holding open for me. She followed me to my locker and set my music into it. I grabbed it from where she was and put it into my backpack. I closed my locker and locked it. Since Mr. Chill wasn't here today I had to take my trumpet with me to 4th period. Oh well.

Ashley looked confused again as I didn't pack my stuff. I explained to her about how the sub probably wouldn't wait after class, so it's better to take this with me to 4th. She nodded showing understanding.

"What's your next class?" She asked.

"I have a make-up class. Chemistry over in I quad."

"What a coincidence!" She practically screamed now that the movie was off. "I have a class in I quad next!" She proceeded to grab my trumpet as the bell finally rang.

Confused, I grabbed my backpack and tried to stop her, but she wasn't having any of it. She just grabbed me by the arm and dragged me through the single door. Before I let the door close, I stopped her dead in her tracks.

"The double doors lead us right to I quad" I stated. She nodded and I led her through them. We walked to I quad and she even went into the class and made sure I would be ok. I smiled and shook my head.

"Ok, then I'll be right next door if you need me."

"Thanks Ash."

"No problem Spence."


	5. Day 5 Part 2

Author's Note: Sorry this one is a little shorter. But more will be coming soon.

* * *

After the final bell rang at 3pm, I started to pack up my stuff. Just as I was finishing, I saw someone walking towards me. I looked up just in time to see Ashley with a huge grin on her face.

"Need some help?"

"Does it matter?" At that, she grins even bigger and picks up my trumpet case.

We walk towards the student parking lot and I have her put it into the backseat of my 2000 Nissan Sentra. It may be a little old, but it runs great.

"So where are you heading to now?" She asks as I wait for traffic to calm down. All the students just have to leave at the same time. This is why having no 8th period is great.

"I have golf practice from 4pm-5:30pm today. Then I'm probably going to go home and chill." Her smile slowly fades as I say that.

"Oh, cool cool." And with that, she says goodbye and walks to her own car.

Since the town/city I live in doesn't have a golf course on it, we have to practice in the next town over. At least we didn't have to practice in the bad part of town. Practice is 4 days a week with an optional Friday to work on putting and whatnot. Although I am not that good at golf, I can do well on occasion. There was this one time that I got a par on the first hole in this super hard course… But I did horribly for the rest, getting double par. Oh well. I do this for fun, not competition.

I arrive, park and head to the clubhouse to change and put my hair up. I'm not very good at putting my hair up in a ponytail; it usually has a few bumps. Once I finish, I head to the bar to get my usual cup of water. I also get one for my friend Katherine for when she arrives. Kat is a little taller than me and in Glenn's grade.

Once I get back out there, I get my clubs out of the trunk. I have to use my key to open it because the mechanical part doesn't work anymore. Oh well, not a biggie. I set my clubs up and take out my putter and a few balls to start practice. Some other people have already arrived and started, so I join them in a game of Horse for golf.

Kat shows up and I leave the game to putt with her. We chat for a little while we wait for the coach to show up. When he does, we all take a seat to listen to his beginning of the season speech. It usually goes something like, "Welcome back ladies! I hope this season goes well. This year, we have 1 senior, 4 juniors, and 3 sophomores. Let's get started with cleaning up this place now shall we?"

To pay the club back for letting us practice here and use their range balls, every Monday we walk the perimeter of the range and hit any stuck balls back into the range. It's a cool little routine that also lets us catch up with each other.

"Spence, how's school so far? Meet anyone cute yet?" Kat asks as we walk and hit.

"School is fine." I answer.

"And?"

"And what Kat?"

"So you have met someone cute? Who is it?!" She says with more enthusiasm in every syllable. This catches the attention of some other girls, who take it upon themselves to join our private conversation.

"No one, she's just a friend. I don't even think she's into me."

"No way! Who is it? You better tell me or else!"

"Or else what?"

"Or else I'm gonna tell coach how few balls you've been hitting today while day dreaming."

Damn, she had me there. "Fine, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to judge me for it." Kat nods, and I look around at the others and they nod as well. "And you can't tell anyone else, Okay?" They nod again. Here goes nothing.

"It's someone in my grade, they're brunette and have these gorgeous brown eyes. She can play guitar and I have one class with her. Her name is… Ashley Davies."

I saw every single set of eyes get wide when I said that. I knew I shouldn't have told them.

Kat pulls me by the arm away from the group and gives me the 'What the hell' face.

"Spence, of all the people you could possibly have a crush on, why her? You know her rep!" Haven't I heard this before?

"Don't give me a speech, I've already heard it" I said a little harsher than I should have. "I know her rep, okay? It's not like I planned to feel this way."

"But why Spencer?"

"She's sweet to me."

"She's sweet to all of her conquests."

"You don't know that."

"Even if I don't know that for a fact, she's been with how many people?"

Kat had me there. "Look, I don't know how many people she has or hasn't been with. And if she wants to tell me then she will."

"Just be careful Spence. I don't want you to get hurt."

"Hey girls, less talking more golfing!" I guess we had stopped moving, so we made up for it by hitting a shitload in the hills.

Golf practice ended too soon, and when I got home Glenn and my dad were arguing. Great. Just another wonderful night in the Carlin household. Wonder what it was about this time. I don't care.

I walk up the stairs and change into some more comfortable clothes. Mom calls us down to dinner and I like what we're having. Homemade meatloaf, canned green beans, canned pears and box pasta. Some of my favorites. My brothers and I sit at the table behind the couch while my father sits at the counter with his chair turned so that he can watch the TV. Mom is already sitting at the table eating.

When we finish, dad tells me that since Glenn was in trouble I didn't have to do the dishes tonight. That's cool since I have some shit to read for school. I head up the stairs and into my room. I grab my book, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley, and get comfy on my bed.

About halfway through chapter 2, my phone starts to ring.

"Hello?" I answer to the unknown number.

"Hey! What's up?"

"Umm reading, but who is this?"

"Your reading? That's so cute!"

I'm getting annoyed now. "Who the hell is this?"

"It's Ashley Davies."

I drop my phone.


	6. Day 6 Part 1

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the lack of updates, but I had a whole crap load of crap going on that took up a lot of my time. Please read more about it in my _First Time_ story.

* * *

I quickly pick my phone back up. "How did you get my phone number?"

"I have my sources." I can hear the smile on her face.

"So… What's up?"

"Just wanted to know how practice went today. I've never played golf before so I was curious."

"Practice went well. It was the first one of the season, so we'll see how it ends up." Not to mention that I did so bad today because I was distracted by thoughts of you.

"Oh cool. How did you do?" Gosh it's like she can read my thoughts.

"I did alright. I could have done better."

"I'm sure you did just fine." There was a moment of silence between us that seemed to last forever, but according to my cell phone only lasted about 47 seconds. It's broken by my dad yelling for Clay to take the garbage out. "What was that?" she asks.

"That was just my dad yelling at my brother to take out the garbage." I pause to see if she'll say anything, and when she doesn't I say, "What did you do after school?"

"Well, first I went to Gill's to get some new guitar strings and picks. Then while I was there I picked up some new drumsticks and a new practice pad since I wore my old one out. Then I filled up my car and got some dinner. And now I'm talking to you." She pauses before saying, "I had Los Charros for dinner by the way, and it was sooooo good."

"Yeah it's such a good place."

"Well, I just wanted to call you and make sure you had my number. I don't give it out in person because I don't want it to get around. But, just know that the fact that I trust you enough to even give it to you is huge for me, so please just protect it." She said that last sentence so quietly and quickly I almost missed it.

"Don't worry Ash, I'll make sure to put it in there so only I know who you are, okay?"

"Thanks Spence, I really appreciate it." She pauses and starts to hum something quickly before saying, "Well, I think I'm gonna go now and do some homework. I've got some stuff to do by the end of the week. I'll see you tomorrow?" She rushes that last part out.

A smile appears on my face as I just quickly say, "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow".

I take my phone away from my ear and look at it and memorize her number before adding it to my phone under _Spashley 3_. I smile as I hit save and toss it onto the bed before picking up where I left off before I got that distracting phone call.

* * *

**_The next day..._**

I wake up at the normal time and get ready for school like I always do. Today though, I take extra time to groom myself and make sure I actually smell good. I sneak into my mom's bedroom and splash a tad of her Victoria's Secret Bombshell on. It looks rather new, so maybe she doesn't use it. I don't put any makeup on since I don't know how. (A/N: I actually didn't know how to put makeup on until I got with my fiancé and she showed me… at almost 19).

We get to school and I park in the normal spot again as Sean and Glenn get out and walk off towards wherever they go to hang out. I put the sun thing up in my car and take a few seconds to relax and calm myself down. Why the hell am I so nervous anyways? I've only really known her for a week. I must be crazy to already be thinking this way. Maybe I have a fever? I put a hand to my forehead and notice nothing. Damn, now I have to go to school.

I open the door to my car and head to the trunk. I take out my lame trumpet and backpack before shutting it. I start to walk towards the band room and cross the quad. As I look around, I see a lot of people I "know" and some of them even wave to me.

I arrive at my destination and set my trumpet down with my backpack following. Jaime is already there with a few others and I grab a seat in the open spot. They are talking about something I'm not familiar with and decide to just stay quiet.

"What do you think, Spence?" I quickly try to cover myself as I attempt to think of an appropriate answer.

"About what?" I ask trying to sound like I was just zoning out instead of daydreaming about that how brunette.

"About how Mr. Chill is making all of the seniors do marching band, no exceptions!" Jaime jumps in.

"I think it's lame! I mean…" I trail off as I try to word this right. "I mean, come on Chill! I not only have school, but I have golf and now this too! This is gonna kill my knee!" Various people nod in agreeance as they all know how bad it is.

I must have been sitting there for longer than I thought because the first bell rang. Jaime, Jesse, Mark and I were all in the trumpet section of this Jazz band so we all got along pretty well. Last week, Mr. Chill had mentioned that this week will consist of mostly sectionals (A/N: this is where each section practices within themselves in order to better the group as a whole. IE: woodwinds, brass, and percussion). That seemed good to me.

We all grabbed our stuff and started to take it to that teacher's lounge before Mr. Chill called the class to order. After he took roll and gave us some instructions, he let us go do our thing.

Since it's the morning, we didn't have to smell as much nastyness as we would in the afternoon. Just the smell of coffee, which is still super gross. We run through the songs one by one, going over the problem sections as needed. Since we were all upperclassmen, we were all familiar with most of this by now, but we wanted to make sure that we did practice in case Mr. Chill checked in on us.

When Jaime, our section leader and first chair, deemed us done enough for today we decided to just relax until the end of the period. Since we are in the Art "J" quad, there is usually a bunch of interesting stuff in here. Today, we decided to try something new in here and see what would happen. There was about 45 minutes left in class, so we had quite some time to kill.

I sat in my chair and looked up at the ceiling. "Anyone ever notice the hole that's in the ceiling tiles?" I asked to no one in particular. Everyone nodded no, but then I saw a lightbulb come on in Jesse's head. He grinned a huge grin and stood up from his chair heading towards a corner in the room. He rummaged around before producing a hanger. I moved away from the table I was at and Jesse pulled a chair out before standing on it and hanging it from the hole.

"Nice one Jess!" Jaime says as he jumps up to add some more items to it. 20 minutes later, we had so much more up there. I think we had some olives, a sock, some toilet paper, a stick, and some other junk.

There's a bathroom in here since it's a teacher's lounge, and Mark decided he had to go. Jaime and Jesse are bigger than him, so they glanced at each other before both of them grabbed a chair and sat in front of it. About 3 minutes or so later we hear Mark finally trying to get out, and failing miserably. He struggled for probably 5 minutes, pleading with those boys to let him out. We heard the Saxes stop playing and they quickly jumped up, moved the chairs and Mark rushed out.

We looked at the time and noticed we only had about 10 minutes left so we grabbed our stuff and went back to the band room and pack up our stuff. The bell rang and I headed to English.

We sat in the same seats because Mr. Baker doesn't assign seats unless he has to, but where you sit on day 1 is where you sit on the last day. He takes roll and I feel Madison tap me on the shoulder after he called her name. I turned to my right so I can keep an eye on the teacher and yet talk to her.

"So Spence, what's up with you and…" I'm so happy that she didn't say Ashley's name.

"I'm not sure. It's hard to tell what she thinks because we haven't spent so much time together. Did I tell you about yesterday?"

"NO! What happened?"

"Well, after our TA class, she walked me to my chemistry class since she has class right next door. She carried my trumpet there, then walked into my class when it was over and walked me to my car carrying my trumpet again. Ok, and this whole time she has this giant grin on her face. So, she asks me what I'm doing next, and when I tell her I have practice and homework the smile faded slowly from her face."

Maddy's eyes get wide at my statement and she grins before starting to say something when Mr. Baker finished roll and started class.


	7. Day 6 Part 2

**Author's Note: **So I'm starting to develop it more, and I'm getting some more free time to write. Please Please Please review so I know what you guys think! Positive, Negative, or Neutral, all are welcome. Thanks guys for reading!

_Review Responses:_

**Cornish:** Madison, Aiden and other characters think that Ashley is bad news because that's what the rumors are. Before this year, Spencer hung out in the band room at lunch. But, because she is now a senior and half of her friends graduated, she felt like she wanted to change it up a little. Ashley on the other hand just does whatever the hell she wants because she's Ashley! Basically, they think Ashley is fine as a person but would rather not see Spencer get hurt.

**dogsrock7699:** Thanks! I can't wait to write more!

* * *

Maddy and I head towards the cafeteria, grab a table and take a seat. I sit on the end seat with her opposite me. In a few minutes Aiden joins us and sits next to Maddy. Ashley's little sister Kyla isn't far behind and sits on his other side. Sometimes she sits with us, I think she likes Aiden. Ashley finally makes her way over and takes a seat next to me. Our arms brush as she and I both dump our lunches.

"Pudding again Spence? That crap isn't good for you ya know." I smile as I hear her voice fill my ears.

"Well, then why don't I trade you?" I quip as I grab her applesauce and swap it with my chocolate pudding. "It's good to change it up every once in a while, right?" I smile as I open her pack and take a bite. I think I accidentally grabbed Glenn's lunch because I was looking forward to my tapioca. Ashley laughed and grabbed her new pudding snack and took a bite before she snatched my applesauce and took a bite of that as well.

"Ash, be nice!" I hear Kyla say as she grabs a drink of her fruit drink.

"I'm totally being nice! I just wanted to have a taste of both is all!" She is grinning from ear to ear and looks at me. I meet her eyes with mine and her smile seems to only get bigger from here. "I've got to go though, I have a meeting with a teacher in 5 minutes and need to get going. I just wanted to stop by and say hey." She finally breaks our stare before getting up and walking towards the doors.

"What the hell was that about?" Aiden asks as I blush.

"Well, I think I know!" Kyla says as a smile appears on her face. "You like my sister" she says in a sing song tone. I swear I get even redder now.

"Yeah, tell Kyla about what her sister did for you yesterday!" Madison fits in.

"Umm…. Well… She just carried my trumpet for me to my class, then from my class to my car."

"And what else? Don't leave any details out!" Aiden chimes in.

"Nothing! She just seemed really disappointed when I told her that I had practice is all."

Kyla's eyes get wide as she takes in what I said. "Damn, she must like you too." She says this so quietly I almost missed it, but I didn't.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?" Madison asks before I can even form the words myself.

"What? You guys didn't know she was…" We all shake our heads no, and she just chuckles and smiles. "Wow, I thought she told you. She mentioned something about it last week to me."

Maddy, Aiden and I all share a glance before hearing Kyla continue. "She told me she had a new crush last week, but refused to tell me who it was. I just assumed it was some underclassman, so I didn't push her. Then last night she was in her room with the door shut. As I was walking past, I noticed that she hadn't actually shut it all the way. So, I quietly walked up to it and looked in. She was pacing back and forth at an incredibly fast rate while dialing her phone and was wiping her hands on her clothes. When whoever she was calling finally picked up, I walked away not wanting to intrude."

Shit that was me on the phone. "That was nice of you!" I say maybe a little too enthusiastically, but only Maddy seemed to notice. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch so Aiden and Kyla got up and left. As I started to get up, Maddy gave me a look that said this conversation wasn't over.

"What the hell Spencer Marie Carlin! You didn't even tell me that she called you last night. What the hell did she say?!" She rushed that last part out as she and I walked towards Econ with Mr. Trammell.

"Nothing!" I say as we take a seat. "She just wanted to make sure I had her number is all. She asked about practice and said she ate Los Charros. Nothing's going on between us." I quickly add that last part for good measure.

"Yet" she adds as Aiden takes a seat behind us with Chelsea following behind.

"Hey" we all greet each other as Trammell calls the class to order. Trammell is pretty cool, I had him last year for US History. We had to do a decades project and my group had the 80's and we rocked it and got an A.

When class ends, Aiden, Chelsea and Maddy go to their last class as I head towards the parking lot to leave. I have to show our security guard Sally my schedule to confirm I can leave. She does and I walk towards my car. As I approach it, I see someone nearby it with their back to me. Just as I reach it, they turn around to reveal my… I mean, Ashley.

She smiles as I approach her and I smile back. She looks me up and down, studying me as her smile grows until it crinkles her nose. Gosh, she is so cute. "Hey, whatcha doing with your free period?" she asks as I finally reach my car and unlock it.

"Not much, I was thinking about heading home and getting something to eat before I have to go to practice."

"God Spence! Do you do anything but practice? Can't you skip today and hang out with me? Puhleeeease?!"

"I'll see what I can do." I whip out my phone and call up my friend Kat and leave her a voicemail saying I got sick after lunch so I won't be at practice so please tell Coach.

"Well, I think that should do it. But, I still want to head home before we go anywhere so I can eat." She nods her agreement before hopping in her car and following me home.

It only takes me about 5 minutes to get home as I only live about a mile and a half from the school. I pull up and park next to the mail box and Ashley pulls around to the other side of the court to park. I decide against opening the garage door because I don't feel like hearing our dog yapping, so I lead Ash around to the semi-hidden front door. I unlock it and let her in as I follow behind. She stops just before she hits the carpet and takes a look around.

"Oh cool! You have a piano?!" She noticed the piano we have sitting between the stairs and the hallway to the guest room. She glances at me before she walks over to it casually and opens it up.

"Yeah, it's my parents. They both took lessons when they were kids, and my mom plays it occasionally. Sorry the keys are all fucked up."

"No, I love it! I love it when pianos are like this, it shows that they are used, even if it's just by the kids." She takes a seat on the little swivel stool and looks down at the keys before setting her hands on it and playing. I have no idea what she was playing, but it sounded beautiful. I walked past her to the kitchen and grabbed a couple of El Monterey Green Chili burritos and popped them in the microwave. Ash continued to play the haunting melody as I grabbed my food out of the microwave and sat at the kitchen table to enjoy my lunch with a tune.

When she finished, she joined me at the table and gasped at my choice of food. "Spencer! Why do you eat such shitty food? Let me look at your pantry, ok?" I nod as I continue to eat. She gets up and walks to the fridge and opens it, studying its contents before looking in the freezer and doing the same thing. She moves a few inches to the left and opens the walk-in pantry before heading in and shuffling a few things around to check things out.

"Spence, I'm gonna have to show you how to eat healthy because most of the food in here shouldn't even be considered food. You didn't pick out all of this did you?"

"No, I didn't. Actually, I don't really like most of that food. That's why I swapped my pudding for your applesauce, I don't like chocolate pudding that much."

"You don't like chocolate!"

"Ash, that's not what I said. I said that I don't like chocolate pudding that much. I've just got a sensitive stomach."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I can't eat eggs or hotdogs because they give me headaches. Juices, especially those similar to Orange make my stomach churn, and some cheeses mess with my stomach too. I'm not even sure why, but it's always been like that."

"You're weird Spence." I make a pouty face and she laughs. "So, let me see this bedroom of yours."

"Sure." I lead her up the stairs to my room. It's the first door on the left, right at the top of the stairs. I walk in and take a seat on my bed as Ashley again studies her surroundings. She walks to the center of the room and circles so she can get the best view possible.

"That's cool that you have 4 windows", she says as she takes a seat next to me. I turn towards her and smile as she looks me in the eyes. She furrows her brow, and I wondered what she was thinking about. "Tell me about yourself, will you? I promise to return the favor!" Her brow quickly unfurrowed as she said that last part and she smiled a huge grin.

"Ummm… Alright… Where do you want me to start?"

"The very beginning, silly. I wanna know everything you have to tell me." She looked at me and her smile softened. She turned her head slightly to the left and scanned my face before moving to lay on my bed in a more comfortable position. It's a twin size bed, so it's a good thing we are both small or we wouldn't fit. I lay down next to her and try and find the beginning of my tale.


	8. Spencer's Past

**Author's Note:** This is just Spencer telling Ashley her background in one chapter. Next chapter will be up soon.

_Review Responses:_

**ItsMeCharlee:** Thanks! I'm not sure how I'm going to develop the other characters in this yet. I've been way too focused on these 2 girls!

**FFReviews:** After this chapter things will be changing. Someone will have drama and someone will have to go through a lot of crap. Who, we may never know! :-D

* * *

So, my parents have been together since 1980. My mom was 15 maybe 16 and my dad was 18. They were married in 1987, bought their first house in 1988, and got pregnant with me in 1990. I was born in January 1991, Glenn in March 1992, and my parents adopted Clay in 1998 when he was 3. My dad says that he taught me how to say my ABC's and numbers when I was a toddler, and that I was a really smart one. I wasn't enrolled in day care or preschool because I had Glenn to play with, but they enrolled him when I went to kindergarten. My dad's parents babysat us while my parents worked days. I loved spending my days there, I always had a fun time. Once, my dad punished us in a bad way. A neighbor kid left our Alligator teeter totter on the lawn and my dad thought one of us did. Well, we didn't and he lined us up and spanked us until I stepped up for my younger siblings and told him I did it. He spanked me and I was grounded for the night.

Soon, I was enrolled in kindergarten and I had Mrs. Underwood. I had a few friends that I made that year, but only one ended up being my best friend, and his name was Jimmy. Jimmy and I were inseparable. I would spend so many days and nights playing with that boy on his farm. Hahahah I remember that Mrs. Underwood would always used to put me in the caboose of the line she called a train because I got in trouble from Jim.

When I got to first grade, I didn't have Jim in class with me. I had Mrs. Joyce, who was from Texas. We were starting to learn to read this year, so we had a reading class. My reading teacher was a real bitch, I hated her. I used to accidentally leave my completed homework on the table at home and she made me cry by telling me I was going to fail. I stuck my head into the desk as I cried since my head actually used to fit IN the desk. Mrs. Joyce saw this and came to me and calmed me down and wiped my tears from my face. Later this year, I remember we would go to the cafeteria and we would sing silly songs. She had the most beautiful singing voice. We sang songs from The Lion King movie and I just remember how she sounded like and Angel. Oh, also one day it was hailing, the first day I ever saw hail in my life, she told us about how in Texas, the hail was the size of softballs and how one cracked the windshield on her car. That sucks!

Then in second grade I had Mrs. Decoster. She was relatively older than my last 2 teachers, as Underwood was in her 40s and Joyce in her 30s. But, she was really cool because she had a box turtle that she brought to class. I had never seen a turtle up close before, and it was probably the coolest thing I had ever seen. I didn't have class with Jim, but I did make a new friend named Angel, which was ironic. Angel and Jim became fast friends as well.

In 3rd grade I had Mrs. Dutra. I had Jim in this class, and that was great. Angel had a different teacher. All we really did was learn how to multiply and divide. I'm not sure what else happened… Oh wait! I remember that I was the only 3rd grader that could read at a 6th grade or higher level! We read Harry Potter as well. Mom got into them more than I did now that I think about it… She's also really into the Lord of the Rings… Wonder why?

In 4th grade, I didn't have class with Jim or Angel, but I made another new friend named Shawn. I had Mrs. Oldford, and damn was she old. But, again she was a really cool teacher. She used to make us watch this show called _California's Gold_ hosted by Huell Howser. My uncle used to do a really great impression of him. At first I really hated the show, but by the end of the year it was a pretty good show. We also learned about the missions of California since it was a California history year. We didn't have to actually make them like Jim and Angel had to, which was nice. We did have to write proper letters to the people who worked in the different counties. I had Riverside county. I do remember that I almost got in a fight that year with a 5th grade boy. I ended up just throwing a basketball at him and knocking the wind out. Clay also got in trouble in his kindergarten class for leaving them and finding me and bugging me. That boy.

Then, we get to 5th grade. I had class with Angel, while Shawn and Jim had the class next door. Our teacher was Ms. Byram and theirs was Ms. Levi. Both were excellent teachers. I also made another new friend this year named Tim. Tim lived not far from me, closer than my other friends, but my parents didn't like him. They even told me not to be friends with him. At first I didn't know why, but I found out later it was because he was held back the year before. Timmy was really cool though. But yeah, nothing really big happened this year. I do remember I tripped on some kids backpack and hit my head on the corner of the table close to my eye. I also sprained my fingers when I was playing catch with Jimmy with a nerf football. I got suspended for a day for stealing some pencils with Angel. I also started to play trumpet that year! Jimmy and Shawn played saxophone, but I picked the trumpet. Timmy played the trumpet, so I wanted to try that. Plus, the trumpet only has 2 pieces while the sax had like 5. No thank you. That's pretty much it.

When I got to 6th grade, I originally wasn't in classes with any of my friends. They all had the same teachers in the same periods while I was with a completely different set of teachers. Then, they added a third teacher to their other 2 and I was moved to this new teacher's class. It was cool because I ended up being in the same exact classes with all of my friends. Oh, I also started collecting quarters that year at my dad's dad's urging. This girl gave me like 3 Sacagawea gold dollars. But yeah, I liked 6th grade even though it was tough. I got canned by some kids like every day, but it was alright because it was like a game. They would put me in the one that didn't have any food in it, and always took me right back out. It was really because I was so much smaller than them. This year, Jim exposed his feelings for me. He told me that he liked me as more than a best friend.

Up till now, Jim and I had been best friends. But, when he told me that he changed everything. One day, he gave me a note that said I can't show my parents it because it's a secret note. My dad took it anyways and read it then told me to be careful and that I was too young to be anyone's girlfriend. That was so embarrassing. I had never really thought about Jim in that way before. I mean, I was smaller than the rest of the girls, I didn't have boobs like they were starting to develop, and I hadn't had a crush on anyone. I just wasn't interested in him in that way, but I agreed to be his girlfriend. We didn't know what we were doing at all. We barely held hands, and when we did he held it "wrong" according to the other kids. We just continued to be the same as we were before, and it was a year and a half before we kissed.

The rest of 6th and 7th grade were lame, nothing else to report. But, at the beginning of 8th grade, Jim and I were still "dating" but hadn't done anything at all. It was more like we weren't dating but just best friends still. One Saturday, I spend the whole day at his house. We played pool in the barn, played with his animals, played some Super Smash Bros. on his N64. I didn't have any video game systems except an NES and SNES. Literally. We also watched some Stomp and some DragonBall Z. After dinner, we went up to our treehouse. Jim and his dad had built it for us to play in. We had a broken phone that we were slingshotting at Jim's cousin and her boyfriend. When they left, we just kind of sat there in the dim light and we were breathing hard from the laughing. Jim asked me if he could kiss me, and I didn't have anything against it. We might as well try to kiss, so we did. He kissed me and his lips were soft. We had no idea what we were doing and it was horrible yet funny. When my dad came and picked me up, we were almost home and he said that he hoped I hadn't done anything with Jim in the treehouse. I still don't know how he knew. Jim moved to Ohio in March and it broke my heart. I loved him like a brother and friend, and now I lost him. I didn't talk to Jim for almost 3 years, until right after my dad's dad died.

I almost didn't graduate 8th grade. There were 2 times when I was in jeopardy of not walking for the 8th grade graduation ceremony. I had played my trumpet at it for the past 2 years and had had a great time doing that. I remember watching my band friends graduate years before. After Jim moved to Ohio, I went on a trip to Chinatown in San Francisco without getting 2 of my teacher's permission. I got 2 days of in school suspension and gum scrapping duty. Then, closer to May, my new science teacher told me to go outside because I was talking too much. When I tried to push my chair under my desk, it got caught on the carpet and fell over quite hard. She thought that I threw the chair or something and told me I wasn't going to graduate, but I did.

In freshman year, I had no friends. I stopped hanging with Timmy and Shawn, Jimmy had moved and Angel was sent to either Eureka or Yreka because he was a troubled kid. I pretty much just hung out in the library going on my MySpace that I wasn't supposed to have because my parents were paranoid. I did make a friend named Jennifer who my parents hated and she was Bi and she liked me but we never did anything because I still wasn't comfortable with my sexuality yet. I was still trying to be normal and trying to like the boys at school, to no luck. One day she walked over to my court with her dog which she claimed was gay, and her dog got a boner when a full size Dalmatian walked by hahahaha. My parents got in a really bad fight one day in May before we were going to my mom's mom's house in Burney. I was late when they came to pick me up, and made them all freak out because my new cell phone got no signal. Then, when I finally got home my mom came into my room crying her eyes out and yelling at me. She told me that I was the reason that they were getting divorced. She said that like 3 times before running away. They didn't get divorced and I'm so happy about that.

Sophomore year was a big one for me. I officially came out to my band friends. I told them that I was a lesbian and they all said they already knew and were cool with it. Jaime was the first person I told. I told him through text message and he just smiled at me from being 2 chairs away from me. Later he told me that he was there for me to talk to anytime. I finally thought I might have replaced Jimmy. But, after Jim left I couldn't really connect with anyone on that same level. Oh well. I started playing golf this year as well.

Junior year was boring still. Still in band, still playing golf, and still very confused. My gay friend Kody was telling me I was gay, while some other kids told me I should date a guy. I tried again to date a friend of mine named Ashley (It's a coincidence, but he was a boy haha) but that just ended up being stupid and lame. I'm not even friends with him now.

And now I'm a senior and you're reading what's happening.


	9. Day 6 Part 3

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the slight delay, but I was really struggling about how to continue this story. I think I've finally got it figured out, and if I get a few reviews I will post 2 chapters tomorrow. Thanks to everyone who reads and favorites and shit. Also, chapters will no longer be labeled by the number of days they have officially known each other, but by date. :-)

* * *

Out of nowhere Ashley asks, "So how many people have you dated then? I only heard you mention like 2 names…" she trails off.

"Oh… Ummm… I'm not really sure. Maybe only like 3 people, and mostly very short term I guess."

"Wow! That's it!"

I suddenly got very angry. "What do you mean 'that's it'?! I'm sorry I'm not a slut like some other people!" I probably shouldn't have said that last part. Damn my quick temper.

Ashley sits up on the bed and gives me a hard look before getting up, turning her back to me and leaving the room. I quickly jump from my bed and stumble out my doorway and watch her walk down the stairs. "Ash! Wait!" I yell at her as I start to run down the stairs after her. She reached the door and tried it before realizing I locked it after I came inside. I reached the bottom of the larger part of the staircase then jumped down from the last 4 steps to my left (similar to the stairs in Full House). I quickly turned and ran at her just as she unlocked it and I grabbed her and pulled her back inside. I get the door shut and lock it before turning to face her.

"Ash, I didn't mean that. It just slipped out. Madison was being a bitch earlier after you left and it was just on my mind. That's not what I think of you. I don't know how many people you have or haven't been with, but let me tell you how many I've been with. Zero. I haven't been with anyone, a boy or a girl, okay! To be completely honest, I've never even kissed a girl before, and I've only kissed 4 guys, each of them only 3 or less times. So there, now you know what no one else does. Now you know what everyone else can't, what I have to lie about to them." I'm looking down at the ground by now; a few tears are making their way slowly down my face. I'm not sobbing, but just silently crying a little.

I didn't even see her start to walk towards me because my blonde hair was covering my face. The next thing I knew, I felt a hand on my chin lifting my head up slowly. I shut my eyes as I let her move me into a hug. I felt her arms encase me and pull me close as I rested my head on her and tried to calm myself before I did start to sob. She moved her hands to my shoulders and took a small step back. I let my head fall as it did and she again lifted it by the chin. My eyes are still shut and I feel a shock run through my body as her lips touch mine. Wait! _Her_ lips are touching mine?!

It's a soft kiss, gentle and loving. I kiss her back just as gently and she opens her mouth ever so slightly. I follow suit and mimic her actions when she pulls back from me. I finally open my eyes and look into hers. She has a soft smile on her face and her eyes are scanning me for my reaction. She takes me by the hand and we silently walk up the stairs and into my room. She walks me to my bed, releases my hand, and sits me down by gently guiding my shoulders before going and opening the window, turning the fan on, and then shutting the door. I'm still in a case of shock as she joins me on the bed and puts her hand lightly on my thigh near the knee.

"Look Spence, I'm really glad you shared all of that with me. It shows me that you trust me as much as I already know I can trust you. Thank you for that." I raise my head but avoid her eyes. "I'm sorry that you have had such a hard life so far. I know what it can be like to have a dick for a dad. But, I haven't been with as many people as I know they are saying I have. I've had sex with 2 guys, 3 girls. I've dated a lot of people, but not long enough to get anywhere. I don't care enough about what people think about me to correct them." I meet her eyes and she continues. "And, now you can't say you've never kissed a girl before Carlin. You do need some practice though!" She finishes in a joking tone and with a slight laugh to her voice.

There's a smirk on my face now as I joke back, "But I don't have anyone to practice with?" I make sure to put my puppy dog eyes up as her smile just grows.

"Not yet you mean."

What does she mean by that?


	10. November

Ashley and I continue to see each other like this through the rest of August, September and October. At first, we would just hang out at my house, neither of us wanting to take that first step after that wonderful first kiss. One day in late September, we were sitting on the couch with both of our feet out in front of us. Ash excused herself and used the restroom. When she returned, she sat extremely close to me, but not touching me. All of a sudden she took my hand in hers and brought it to her mouth for a kiss. My eyes met hers and we both leaned in until our lips were touching. Her lips were soft and tasted of strawberries. I could kiss her forever.

After that, we never really defined the relationship, and we weren't public with it either. Every "B" day we meet in the parking lot and she follows me to my house. Both of my parents work days and my dad picks up my siblings and neighbors before coming home by about 3:30pm or so.

It's almost always the same. We follow the path to the front door and walk in. I run upstairs and put my school crap in my room before going downstairs and grabbing something to eat. Ash has already situated her on my parents couched and turned on the TV. After I finished eating, I run back upstairs to brush my teeth. As I'm doing this, Ash turns the TV off and walks up to my room. Usually I'm just finishing up and walking in as she's opening the window so we can keep an ear out for my dad in case he came home early. I close the door behind me and we take a seat on the bed.

We usually talk for about 15 minutes about how life is going at home. We've come to depend on each other to be an outlet for listening. After we're both finished, we usually sit for a few seconds to digest before we start to slowly and gently kiss each other. It's always gentle and sensual and she never pushed me to go farther than I'm ready. We don't usually get too heated in our kissing, but today, she pushed a little bit more and I gave in.

Ash pulled at my bottom lip with her teeth as she tried to get control of me. We were sitting up on my bed with her hand cupping my face as she pulled me impossibly close to her. She pushed me back so I was lying on my back. She let herself fall onto me and our stomachs touched, leaving a warm, perfect sensation there. Well, that's not the only place exhibiting a warm sensation if you know what I mean. She broke our kiss briefly, studying my face to gauge my reaction as she catches her breathe. Her eyes meet mine and we have a silent conversation. _Are you sure I can do this? Yeah, yeah this just feels right. Then I'm gonna push you a little more, ok? _I nodded to complete our conversation. She smiles at me again before her lips meet mine.

She starts gently, kissing me in a rhythm I'm used to. She's lightly biting and sucking on my lips as my eyes flutter shut. Just when I think she's not going to kick it up, she does. I feel her tongue force its way into my mouth, making me panic for a micro-second before I feel what she's doing. She's massaging the inside of my mouth with her tongue. She pulls back and starts being gentle again with my lips, but only for a few seconds before she starts to kiss me on my jawline, leaving them in a random pattern so I can't tell where the next one will land. It's driving me practically insane!

She finally reaches her destination, my neck. Ash kisses one side, then the other before she attaches herself to me in just the right spot. "Ash, that feels so good, but don't leave any marks!" She takes the hint and instead of just sucking and giving me a hickey, she just gives small sucks at random points and sides until I'm basically putty in her arms.

"Shit! What was that?" Ashley sits then stands up on my bed and looks out the window.

"It's just one of your neighbors, the ones in grey one story."

"Oh, that's good. What time is it?" I answer my own question by glancing at my bedside clock. It's 2:28pm. "I guess I had better get ready for my last Golf practice." Ash gives me the same sad face she always does when I say I have to leave her. "It's not like I want to go." She nods at this, as she knows I don't really want to go that much. Kat has been pumping me for info about me and Ash ever since that first practice; and I think she's got something up her sleeve, or she at least heard something from Glenn since they are the same age and share a class or two.

Ash leaves my room and walks downstairs to get her stuff while I change. When I finish, I get my own things and we meet at the bottom of the stairs. Although there's always a smile on her face, there's always a sadness in her eyes that I just can't get past. I don't ask though as I think it's too soon and if she wants to tell me she will. I mean, she still hasn't even told me much about herself.

I hold her hand on our way to the door. Before we open it we always share a kiss, one that is always wanting to lead to more but never does. We don't hold hands while we walk to the cars, and we don't kiss goodbye. All we do is wave because none of my neighbors know and I don't want them to tell my parents.

When I get to Golf practice, a few of the girls are already there, Kat included. I park, get out and walk around to the trunk. The motor for the auto-trunk is broken so I have to use the key to pop it open. I grab my clubs out before shutting it. I walk to the back seat and grab my water and snack before hitting the lock button and walking towards the group.

"Hey Spence! Ready for the last practice of your high school career?" Kat asks as I approach.

"I guess. It's just going to be boring for you guys next year though!" I respond.

"Okay ladies!" Coach grabs our attention so we gather round. "Next Friday we will have our end of the year party at the new pizza place. Please be there by about 6pm so we can get dinner at a reasonable time." We nod our agreements. "Okay! Since it's the last regular sanctioned practice, I want to split you up into 4 groups of two where we will play the last few holes in a round." He paired me up with Kat, and had us start at hole 6 so we will end at hole 9. The other 3 groups go first and we end up by ourselves while Coach follows the 3rd group out.

"Spence, we need to have a serious talk."

"Kat, I am not talking to you about this right now."

"If not now, then when?"

"When there's something to talk about!" I almost yell at her.

"Look, I'm not going to judge you like I did back in the beginning of the year. I'm sorry about that. I just want to make sure you are being careful and safe." She looks me in the eye and I can tell she's being dead serious.

"Alright, you want to know what's up?" She nods enthusiastically with a gigantic smile plastered from ear to ear. "We haven't defined anything yet, but it seems to be progressing smoothly. We've kissed, a lot." I pause and see her eyes go wide at my words.

"What do you mean A LOT?"

"Nothing." We've made it to the 7th now. "Well, she's been over to my house a few times and we made out a few times." I tell her all about what happened that day she gave me my first kiss from a girl. I must have forgotten that I never told her I never kissed a girl before Ashley.

She gets quiet for a few seconds as I assume that she digests what I just told her. "I never knew you never kissed a girl before Spence, hell I've even made out with a couple of chicks before."

"Kat, you have to remember that I'm not like you and Glenn. I don't have boy/girlfriends and go out to parties."

She hesitates before saying, "Is she any good?"

"I haven't done it with her!"

"Not yet!"

"Shut up!" She had me there though. Who knows how long until we get that comfortable with each other. "It's not like I would have anything to compare her to anyways" slips out of my mouth before I even realize what's going on.

"WHAT?!" Her mouth literally drops open and she practically falls over in shock. "How is that even a possibility! You're almost 18 and a virgin? What the hell Spence! We need to get you laid before you get it from Ashley."

"No" I say firmly. "If anything, I want her to be the one who takes my virginity away."

"Okay, whatever you say." We do the 8th silently before getting to the 9th and seeing everyone else has already gone and left. Coach is waiting and watching us as we hit the fairway. "I just want you to be happy, ya know?" I nod as I set up my shot. It ends up slicing a little to the right, but I hit is slightly left so it lands almost back in the middle a few yards from the green. "And I hope she never hurts you because no one should have to go through the hell of a breakup that would only come from your first."

"Thanks Kat, I really appreciate it." We smile at each other as we hit our last shots in and head over towards Coach.

"Good job today girls! And good job this season as well! Don't forget about our party next Friday and have a good rest of the night." He walks with us back to our cars before he heads out back to his wife.

"Have a good night Kat!" I yell at her as I get into my car. Just before I get my door all the way shut, I hear her barely say, "And good luck to you Spence. I wish you all of the luck in the world."


	11. November Part 2

It's getting closer and closer to the Bell game. (A/N: This is where my HS and our Rival had a football game to see who is better and wins the Bell to display at their school till next season). It's also getting close to Clay's birthday, but that's beside the point.

It's Wednesday November 7, 2 days before the Friday of the Bell game. I'm in the car with my mother and Glenn as we drive home from the local grocery store. My mom is frusterated because people are driving like idiots and so she says "God, please give me patience!"

I knew I shouldn't have said anything, but I did. "Mom, would you mind not talking about God in front of me?"

"What why? You believe in Him right?" I don't say anything. "Right Spence?" I still don't say anything.

She stops talking to me by now and pulls into the house and parks in the garage. Tears have started to fall down her face now as she puts the car in park, pushes the off button and gets out. Glenn looks at me before following her into the house.

I don't follow right away. At first, I just sit in the car in shock at what I just said. How could I be so stupid to say that! I start to get out of the car and I almost go inside. I'm freaking out on the inside, pacing back and forth in the garage. That's it, I'm just going to go inside and face the music.

I walk in and shut the door behind me. I see my father sitting on the couch where Ashley normally sits. It's not his normal spot, so now I'm just a little more worried.

"What happened Spence?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's going on with you and your mother?" So, she didn't tell him.

"Well, mom was asking God for patience and I asked her not to bring up God around me."

"You don't believe in God?" I froze and didn't know what to say. He continued, "Are you gay Spencer?" I still didn't answer as he repeated this question multiple times.

Finally I couldn't take it anymore so I just yelled, "Well, I don't like boys!" before running out the front door and to the end of the court. I grabbed my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. It was still before dinner so I called my friend Chelsea, whom was also a lesbian.

_Ring ring ring ring, _"Hello?"

"Hey Clels, some shit just went down."

"What happened Spence?" I told her what went down and she was silent for a moment. "Same thing happened to me tonight Spence."

"What happened?"

"Well, my mom saw that my notebook had Coco's name written all over it and asked me who that was. When I told her it was a person from last year's band that graduated, she figured everything else out." I could feel her voice quiver as she reached the end.

"Gosh Chels, I'm so sorry that happened. I know your parents are pretty Catholic."

"I've got to go Spence, they are calling me down for dinner. Let's talk about this more tomorrow with the group, okay?"

"Yeah okay. I'll see you tomorrow."

I hang up and contemplate my options. I could go back and face the music, or I could just run away. Maybe I can just call one of my friends and they can pick me up and I can just live with them. I don't know what to do so I'm pacing back and forth like crazy. I see one of my neighbors drive out of the court and wave at me. I plaster a smile on my face and give a quick wave before deciding that I can't run away right now because I don't have any supplies with me.

I slowly walk back up to my parents house and walk in. The door creaks as I open it and creaks while I shut it. I see my dad sitting in his normal spot with his feet kicked up and some sports event on. "We will talk about this later. Grab some dinner and head to bed." At least he didn't want to talk about it right now, which was a relief.

I make myself something very quickly as I can feel his thoughts thinking about me, probably thinking about how much of a disgrace I am to his name. I eat as quickly as my little hands will shovel food into my little mouth. I almost choke when my dad dismisses me from doing the dishes and make my way up into my room. I can't believe how much I am freaking out on the inside right now.

I end up falling asleep and waking up at about 5am. I hear my mom and dad already up and getting ready to go to work. I must have fallen asleep shortly after plopping down on my bed, but I don't remember getting under my covers. Maybe I did though, I don't know.

I hear my dad talking to my mom, "I don't know what's wrong with her. Maybe we should just talk to her."

"Arthur, we can't talk to her before Sunday. She's busy with band for the next 2 nights and on Saturday we have Clay's 13th birthday party."

"Alright, but the sooner we talk to her the better."

Dad leaves at 5:30am and mom at 6am. I never got back to sleep after hearing them, how could I? Although it sounds like mom doesn't know, I don't know. I get up and walk into the bathroom and start the shower. I can see my arms literally shaking from nervousness. I get in and let the hot water scold my shaking, cold skin. I sit down and hang my head letting the water push my hair over my face. I'm not even sure how long I sat there, but the water got cold so I stood up and put it warmer before actually starting to bathe.

I get out and see a missed call from Venus. Damn, I just missed it. I get dressed while I wait for her voicemail. I hear my phone signal its arrival and dial it.

"Hey Spence, I talked to Chelsea last night and she told me what happened. If you have time this morning, I'd like to talk to you. Just give me a call when you're coming over and I'll meet you outside alright?"

I give her a call letting her know I'm leaving in 5 minutes to get her. When I get there, she's out there just like she told me she would be. She's got her signature hoodie on and her short hair pulled back into a bun like always. She's also got her shorts on even though it's starting to get cold out now. (She's butch and kind of a hermaphrodite, it's a long story though so don't ask.) She gets in and buckles her belt before I drive her the short distance back to my parent's house and she follows me inside and up to my bedroom. After I tell her what happened last night and what I heard this morning, she took a few minutes of silence to think.

"Spence, those were some cryptic words. I'm not sure exactly how to interpret them."

"Me either. I'm just so scared though. I just don't want to be homeless is all."

"You know you'd be able to stay with me if she didn't hate you."

"I know, I don't even know why she hates me so much. I never even did anything to her."

"You know damn well why she hates you. She thinks I'm cheating on Christine with you."

"It's just not fair. Why does my life have to be like this? Why is it that I'm the one that has to be different. Why can't I just be normal like everyone else? Why can't I just be attracted to guys?"

"Because you didn't get to choose this. Neither did I. We can't control who we love Spence. You of all people should know that. You didn't get to choose your parents just like I didn't choose to be how I am." I nod because I know she's right.

"I know I know. I just hate it is all. It's bad enough that my parents think I'm just a screw up."

"They don't think that" she says quickly before shaking her head. "Well, they might think that. Your dad is one scary guy though, so it's really hard to read him." Everyone always says my dad is scary looking, and I 100% agree.

When Glenn is ready we head out to school, where I prepare to repeat a lot of the same information. Thank the universe that today is an A day so all I really have is band and chem.


	12. November Part 3

**Author's Note:** I hope you all enjoy this update. What do you think of it so far? Anything you think could be better? Let me know, and thanks!

_Review Responses Chapter 9:_

**ItsMeCharlee:** Yes, at first Spencer was slightly cautious because of the rumors and whatnot. After she got to know this real Ashley though, she knew that they were able to trust each other.

**Cornish:** It wouldn't have been right for Spencer to experience that with anyone else!

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I arrive at school and go through the same motions as I do every school morning. When I get to my destination, most of my band friends, including Chelsea, were already there waiting for me.

"What happened last night?" Chels asks as she pulls me aside from the group. As I tell her more details, she just nods every once in awhile before telling me her own tale of leaving the safety of her closet.

"Sounds like you both had a rough night last night" Jaime says as he carefully joins our private conversation. He puts a hand on both of our shoulders in a comforting manner before saying, "You guys will always have a place to stay for a few days if anything happens, alright?" We both nod before giving him a hug at the same time. The bell rings and we enter the room we have all come to know as a second home, the room where we all have become such good "friends" with each other.

I glide through symphonic and concert band before heading into the cafeteria for lunch. Since I won't see my other friends until tomorrow, I felt like I owe it to them to talk to them before then. I see Aiden and Kyla already sitting around the same table as usual, and I'm pretty sure they don't see me because they share a quick kiss before I walk into view.

"Hey." I say bluntly as I take a seat second from the end.

Aiden, oblivious to my sour mood says, "Hey Spence! Excited for the Bell game!" I nod to his words which came out so excited they seemed more like a statement than question, which seems to satisfy him for now because he's digging into his food like he hasn't eaten in weeks.

"You alright?" I hear Kyla say quietly before I see her whip out her phone and send a text to someone, but I don't care very much to ask about it.

I mumble mhm just as Madison joins us and sits on the other side of Kyla. Maddy finally got over Aiden and is dating some college guy so yeah. We will see.

Kyla doesn't ask me anything more, but chats with Maddy for a few minutes. Just as I'm about to start talking, Ash comes up and takes the middle seat next to me, placing her hand on my knee as discreetly as she can. "Everything okay, Spence?" she asks.

"Umm no actually. There's something I wanted to talk to you guys about." And with that, I explain myself for the 3rd time today. The whole time I'm talking, Ashley's hand never leaves my knee. She even squeezes it a few time to let me know she's listening and here for me.

"Damn Spence, that sucks so much. I'm so sorry that this is happening to you" Aiden states as his eyes get a little sadder with each word I continue to tell in order to weave my story.

Ashley still hasn't said anything, and I'm not sure why. Maybe because she want to talk in class later today? The students will be testing with Mr. Chill, so we will have free time.

Just as that thought leaves my mind the bell rings. Everyone but me and Ash get up. As I gather my garbage she does the same before following me to through the door that connects the band room and cafeteria.

"Mr. Chill said that we should just let him know we're here and then go and do our own thing." She nods to acknowledge my words before waving at him and following me to the stage. We take a seat on some mats from the Drama club and are quiet for a few minutes before she finally says something.

"I like you. But, I'm scared."

If I wasn't freaking out before, I sure as hell am freaking out way worse now. "Of what?" I ask apprehensively.

Ash takes a big breath in and blows it out. "Of hurting you, either directly or indirectly. Let me explain before you say anything though, okay?" I nod. "I really like you Spence, but to be honest, your parents are a bit scary." She must have seen my face change quickly to rebut this. "I'm not scared of them Spence, but I am scared of what they will do to you. It sounds like your mom will freak out, and hell, I'm not sure what your dad is gonna do. I just don't want them to find out about us then take you away from me. I don't think I could handle that." I can tell she's being dead serious. "Honestly, I just want you to be happy." She finishes then lets me have the floor.

"Ash, first things first. Yes, my parents are scary and yes, they could hurt me. But, I don't think they will. As much as they disagree with my beliefs and feelings, I'm still their daughter and I think above all that will prevail." I take her hand in mine. "And, just so you know, I _really_ like you too. Probably more than I've like anyone before." I rush that last part out and turn and blush. I do see the smile quickly appear on her face though.

"Gosh Spencer Marie Carlin, you are the cutest girl ever!"

"No way! You are way cuter than me!" We go back and forth like this for about 5 minutes before I finally give up.

"Fine AshLEY" I put extra emphasis on they ley part of her name. "I'm cuter than you… TODAY" I add on quickly before she can say anything. The huge nose-crinkling smile reappears on her face as she leans back on her hands and looks up at the ceiling.

"So… Can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, you can ask me anything. I trust you Spencer, remember?"

"Yeah, yeah I remember." I smile at the memory playing of that day after our first kiss. I smile at all the kisses we have shared since, and all of the kisses I hope to share with her in the future. It ends up coming out in more of a statement than a question, although the end is asked like a question, "Tell me about yourself?" I see her physically tense up, but she doesn't break our hands.

"Sure. I'll tell you whatever you want to know."

"Just the basics will do for now, okay?" I say trying to see if it will help her relax, which it does. She nods, swallows hard and starts.


	13. Ashley's Past Part 1

**Author's Note:** Ashley's past, part 1. Not sure when part 2 will arrive... In a few chapters maybe.

_Review Responses:_

**ItsMeCharlee:** Yes, Spencer's parents are based upon my own. My parents were definitely scary at this point. Feelings revealed is right!

**Cornish:** I loved writing it! I'd say that that was one of my hardest yet favorite to write thus far. And, we can only wait and see what happens!

**DominoL:** Thanks for taking the time to not only read it, but to comment. It is truly appreciated.

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Well, I was born in April of 1991 to my father Raife and my mother Christina. My dad played guitar in the 80's but never got his big break. I'll have to have you listen to some of his music sometime though, he's really good. My parents weren't married when I was conceived, so they married about 3 months after my birth.

Kyla and I have different moms; I bet you didn't know that because most people don't. They just assume that because we share a last name we must be fully related. Don't get me wrong, I love Ky more than I love anyone else.

My biological mom is dead. She died when I was almost a year old. She never believed in modern medicine so when she got sick, she refused to get the help she needed. She was sick for about 3 months before she actually passed. Dad had started having an affair once she got about a month from dying. I never understood why he did that, but I guess I have to forgive him. He was losing the love of his life after all.

Kyla's mom ended up being pregnant when my mom died. Kyla was born in early November, and her mom married my dad the next summer. Since then we have been one big semi-happy family.

You may be wondering why I would say semi-happy. Well, when I was about 6 my dad's parents died in a terrible plane crash. On their way to Australia, the pilot of the plane was knocked unconscious by his rouge co-pilot. The pilot crashed the plane into the middle of the ocean. No one survived. My dad was a wreck. He tried to tell them not to go on this trip, that he had the worst feeling that something bad was going to happen. They didn't listen, told him that he needed to lay off the sauce even though he rarely drank.

After the crash, my dad started drinking more and more. His drink of choice was always whisky, just like his father and his father's father. His great-grandfather even produced the stuff during prohibition. Like I said, he was a complete wreck. Sometimes I used to get so scared of him. I used to hope and pray that when I woke up he would be gone. He never was. He never went anywhere because he was always gone.

It was the worst when I was about 8 years old. He would drink until he passed out, then when he woke he would start again. He did this all day from morning until mom (Ky's mom that is) forced him to stop and get to bed for real. I think if it wasn't for her stopping him at a certain time each night he would have been long gone. I am so thankful for everything she's done for our family.

Once that year, he woke up and drank and drank and drank but never passed out. To this day, I still have no idea why he didn't. Kyla and I were playing _The Lion King_, where I was Simba and she was Scar and we recreated the fighting scene. We were playing and laughing and just having a fun time being kids. I guess we were being too loud for him though. The next thing we both knew he had picked us up off of each other and started yelling at us to be quiet. He tossed Ky on one of the couches, which she promptly bounced on then fell over onto her side. He grabbed me by the shirt with both of his hands, lifting me up until it was dangling scarily high. He put me right up to his face and hissed, in that drunken slur, "You are the oldest, so you should know better by now! Now BE QUIET!"

He dropped me out of his hands and onto the floor where I landed on my wrist and heard it crack. He stumbled away and landed on the couch where he still didn't pass out. He just took another swig before turning some baseball game on. Probably an A's game since he loved them. Kyla got off the couch and came over to me wondering if I was okay, which mostly I was. I sat up from the ground cradling my arm as I wandered to the other room. He was almost out on the couch, the game muted so the noise wouldn't give him an even bigger headache.

We had a corded phone in my parent's bedroom, which is where I was headed. I knew that my mom kept a list of phone numbers for me to call in case of an emergency by that phone. I looked down the list and tried to figure out which one to call when I remembered my mom's voice, _"Just dial the one that has double digits and ask for me. They might ask for your name, just tell them that it's you and they will get me. Ok?" I nod. _I dial the number and listen to the ringing. It rings 3 times before it's answered.

"Hello, this is Stephanie with Jerry's Construction how can I help you?" "I'm looking for my mom Christine Davies, this is her daughter Ashley." "Oh! Alright Ashley, let me get your mom for you alright?" I nod not realizing it was rhetorical and that you can't hear a nod.

I told my mom what happened and she rushed home and took me to the local hospital. I was lucky I didn't break it, but it was just a bad sprain. I got a splint and was taken home. After that, my mom started to come home at lunch to make sure we are safe.

She threatened to leave my dad when I was 10 if he didn't sober up. She actually did kick him out when he refused initially. I didn't see him for over a year before he showed up one night to our door. He looked horrible, like one of those homeless guys you see begging for money. He told us about how he travelled upstate a little, only to be arrested for getting in a bar fight. He tried to get off easy but with no luck. They locked him up for the last 9 months and just got out yesterday. He said the first place he wanted to go was to come home, so he did and that's why he looks like that.

He had been sober since a few days into his sentence. The first thing he asked to do was use the restroom, where he showered and shaved. When he reappeared all I saw was the man who had hurt me for all those years, not the father I loved. He tried to come over and give me a hug but I just turned away from him. I saw the disappointment on his face, but he seemed to understand regardless. Kyla ran right into his open arms and gave him the biggest hug. I smiled at them and he smiled back. I knew then that things would be okay.

I didn't get along with him at first. We clashed as he tried to reinsert himself into our routines, but it eased up after about 5 months. I was having trouble with school, math to be specific. My mom was terrible with it and was more of an English person. One night, I was sitting at the kitchen table struggling with the pre-algebra when I noticed my dad entering the kitchen. He quietly walked to the fridge, grabbed a glass of water and some meat and cheese before joining me at the table. He avoided my eyes and focused on making his food. I saw him glancing and staring at my homework and I just hoped he didn't want to help me with it. He did. He offered to help me and at first I was like _hell no!_ But, then I decided that maybe he could help me. I mean, Kyla's good at math and I know she didn't get it from mom so maybe she got it from dad. He ended up helping me so much that when I turned my homework in, my teacher thought I copied it from a friend. I ended up getting a B that year, and he helped me ever since.

He stayed sober, and is still sober. I'm so glad to have him in my life. That's pretty much all I want to talk about right now, okay?


	14. November Part 4

**Author's Note:** Sorry about the delay! Working 90+ hour weeks will do that. Hope this makes up for it!

_Review Response:_

**Cornish:** No problem! I hope you enjoy this one as well!

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She's got tears in her eyes, head down while her beautiful brown curls fall around it. I drape my arm over her shoulder in a comforting manner and she leans into me. _I __can't __believe __all __of __that __shit __happened __to __her __and __she's __only __17. __That's __crazy.__How __could __a __father __do __that __to __his __daughters? __I __guess __my __life __isn't __all __bad..._

"SPENCER!" Ashley says loudly in my ear.

"Sorry Ash, I was just thinking is all."

She grins and says, "I know. I'm sorry."

"Ash, you have nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do that do you. He did." The smile quickly fades from her face and I know I've made a mistake with those last 2 words.

"If that's what you think then you didn't listen at all." She starts to stand and walk away. I immediately mimic her. "Ash wait! I'm sorry, that came out wrong. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." She's stopped walking away now and turned to face me with her arms crossed over her chest as if to say _Continue..._

So, I do. "What I meant was that he went through a hard time and I don't blame him. I just didn't like hearing about him hurting you, whether it was an accident or not. I'm sorry, can you ever forgive me?" I put up my puppy-dog eyes and pout, which only makes that contagious smile reappear onto her face.

She uncrosses her arms and starts walking back towards me. I smile as she wraps me up into her arms in a hug. "Alright SpencER, I forgive you. But, only if you give me a kiss."

"But what if someone sees!"

"I don't care anymore. I want everyone to know. Plus, you owe me." She grins even bigger.

"Fine." I kiss her quickly on the cheek. She nods her head no before giving me the "You know damn well that that is not what I meant" look. I sigh and look up into her eyes. I give her a peck on the lips. Just one mind you.

She grabs me from behind my head though. She doesn't let me get more than a centimeter away from her before she takes me back and slams her mouth onto mine. At first, I'm scared of being caught and outed to everyone. A few sweet kisses from her though and I no longer care about what anyone else thinks or says. All I care about is the girl I love and her lips on mine.

She finally breaks our kiss and leans her forehead against mine. My eyes are still closed for a moment out of fear that someone might have seen us. When I eventually open my eyes the first thing I see are her beautiful brown eyes smiling back at me. I smile at her as she pulls her head away from mine. Looking around, it seems like no one was there to even see what we were doing. Just as I feel great about what just happened, I hear some coughing from around the corner. _SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT!_

Ashley spins around so quickly I swear she spins like 3 times. She blocks my body with hers in a protecting manner, making it so I can barely see who is there. That's when I see one of the sophomores in the class looking to go to the restroom.

"What are you looking at?" Ashley hisses at the timid boy. "Get going Kyle! Do what you came here to do and you better keep what you saw to yourself, got it?!" He nods slowly and makes his way past us towards the restroom around the corner. Ashley walks Kyle to his destination, whispering something to him on the way. She makes her way back.

"What was that about?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to make sure I made my point clear to him." She stops in front of me and takes me by my shoulders into a hug. "I'm sorry I caused him to see us. I never meant to. Are you okay?" She pulls herself away from me and I suddenly feel cold. She still has me by the shoulders as I nod rhythmically, thinking and trying really hard to just keep it together.

"I just really have to go to the bathroom." She nods and releases my shoulders as I make my way around the corner. I turn to open the door and see her following me. I go in and let the door close behind me. I walk towards the door that actually leads to the bathroom and try to open it only to find it locked. _Thanks Chilly for opening the girls bathroom._ I hear Ashley open the door and hesitantly step inside.

"I just wanted to make sure nothing bad was going to happen to you." She quickly gets out before looking at her shoes timidly.

"Well, Chill didn't unlock our bathroom so I have to wait for Kyle to finish so I can use the guys." She gives me a weird look. "1, I have 2 brothers. 2, These bathrooms are identical. 3, I would just use the staff lounge one but who knows what they had for lunch today." I see her smile at this.

We just hang out in there until we hear Kyle exit the guys. Ashley makes sure that he actually goes back into the band room before she lets me know it's okay to "do my business" as she put it. So, I do. As I finish up and head out to wash my hands, I see Ashley just sitting on the counter waiting for me. I glance at my phone and see we still have over half of class left (like 50 minutes). A smirk slowly starts to appear on her face as she watches me wash, dry, then try to open the door. It's locked from the inside. The smirk grows as she says, "Don't leave yet. I wanted to talk to you." You can hear me gulp at her statement.

"About?" I ask as I turn to face her, door still locked. She locks eyes with me and jumps off the counter.

"About us." She takes a couple steps towards me.

"Oh" is all I manage to get out. I break our gaze and walk around her to sit on the counter opposite of where she was.

She chuckles. "Nothing bad Spence! I'm not ending it." I meet her eyes again only to see she's being deadly honest. I give her a half smile so she walks over and puts her hands on my shoulders. "I want us to be public together. I want us to be able to be like how everyone else is. Free to be who we are. I know you're scared, but I will protect you. No Matter What." I nod so she continues. "Did you want to come over this weekend?"

"Yeah!" I initially almost shout at her. But, then I remember I have the Bell Game on Friday and I have to go to a Marching Band Parade in Lodi on Saturday. "Shit! I can't because I have some obligations from Chill for Friday and Saturday. I'm sorry."

"It's not problem. Maybe I'll end up seeing you anyways." And with that, she was up and out the bathroom door before I even comprehended what she said.


	15. Ditching

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the short delay. Went on vacation where I didn't have my files. Hope everyone's holidays and New Year have gone well thus far. This chapter's just under 1600 so I hope it holds you over while I work on the next chapter... The Bell Game!

_Review Responses:_

**DominoL:** Thanks!

** 2000:** We will find everything out in the next few chapters... And, Thanks!

* * *

I follow Ashley out of the men's bathroom only to find her walking into the sheet music storage room. I follow her but find the door has locked itself upon her entry. I knock a pattern. _Knock __knock __knock, __knock __knock __knock,__knock __knock __knock-knock __knock_ (Jingle Bells). She waits a second before knocking the next part back and opening the door giant smile on her face.

"How did you know that's my favorite holiday song?"

"Kyla told me one day." She shakes her head slightly and smirks. She moves aside and allows me to enter the tiny room filled with file cabinets.

"What's your favorite song in here?" Ashley asks after a few minutes of silence.

"Oh, I don't know... There are so many that I like." I start thinking and see Ashley smile again as she studied my face. "Let's see... For classical music there's pretty much anything by Gustav Holst, and The Legend of Alcobaca. For jazz I would probably pick Legend of the One-Eyed Sailor or something by Chuck Mangione. I love playing his songs on Flugelhorn." She looks at me slightly confused. "A Flugelhorn is kind of like a Trumpet." I see her connect the dots.

"I'd love to hear them sometime."

"I'd love for you to hear them too. They are truly beautiful..." I trail off and think to myself _they __aren't __the __only __thing __that's __beautiful __in __this __room._ I see her smile even bigger and I turn to blush. Maybe I didn't keep that inside my head like I thought.

"Can you teach me?"

"Teach you what?"

"Teach me how to be like you."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean... I just want to... I don't know... Learn to be more feminine I guess..."

"Spencer! You are beautiful just the way you are. But, if you insist, I can try to help you on Sunday if you want."

_Wow,__she __is __really __pushing __hanging __out __this __weekend. __I __wonder __why?_ "Yeah, I'll call you later tonight and let you know if my parents let me." She nods, seemingly happier with at least the maybe rather than no from before.

"Sweet! Can't wait until then... I mean if your parents let you."

"Girls! Will you please take Dameon to the D office? He is misbehaving and I don't trust him to walk himself. I'll call ahead and let them know."

"Yeah no problem!" I yell. We get up and walk into the band room seeing Dameon waiting for us. Dameon starts towards the door and we follow. D office isn't that far so we get him there fairly quickly. I start to head back when Ashley grabs me by the arm stopping me. I give her a "What the Hell?" look and she just points to her wrist before holding up 3 fingers and counting down. The bell rings.

"Either you are even more amazing than I thought you were, or I'm just extremely caught up in other things."

"I'm just amazing." She smiles and I can feel the heat returning to my face. "Want to ditch?" This threw me off and although I knew I shouldn't, I nodded my head in agreement. "Great! I'll pick you up by the band room." With that, she was gone. I snuck back towards the band room, taking caution to avoid any narcs. I hid myself so I could see her when she pulls up but so that no one else could find me. I see her drive in and turn around so I take that as my sign to make a run for it. I hop in and we are off.

"Where to Ms. Carlin?"

"It doesn't matter. Wherever you want to go." She nods and takes off towards the Albertsen's shopping center. I think I know what we're doing, but I think she thinks she's being sly so I keep it to myself. She parks and states she will be right back before heading into the store. As I'm waiting, I pull out my iPod and headphones and crank up some Blink-182, my favorite band. Just as I'm about to play my favorite song on the album I see her walking back out the store with not only an Albertsen's bag but one from Los Charros.

"I hope you don't mind, but I got us lunch. I remembered you told me once that you likes Los Charros's super asada burrito so I got us both one. I've never had one so I hope you weren't lying when you said they were good." I nod vigorously in approval of her choice of a meal then motion towards the Albertsen's bag. "Oh! Yeah, that's a surprise. Be patient Spence." I smile and nod again.

She pulls out and we head towards Crockett Park. All of these places are literally on the same street so it's not like we are driving very far. In fact, if we were more "green" we would have walked, but we are lazy teenagers, what can we say?

I grab the food bag while Ash grabs the Albertsen's one. She motions her hand to tell me to find somewhere to sit and I do so. She follows after grabbing something from the trunk of her car and putting it into her bag then putting the bag back into her car and shutting the trunk.

"So, you're hiding something huh Ash?" She just grins and does the zipper her mouth shut thing. I notice she no longer has the Albersen's bag but decide not to question it further. I hand her her burrito and watch as she takes about half the foil off. She lays the foil down on the table then puts her food onto it. She grabs her drink, a Strawberry-Kiwi Vitamin Water, and unscrews the lid before placing that on the table open side up. I motion her to take the first bite.

"Spence! I had no idea it would taste this good! What do you think they put in it?" She says as I unwrap and prepare to eat my own food.

"I have no idea. All I know is it tastes good. It tastes even better with some of the salsa too!" She nods then puts some on hers. Taking another bite, I see her face light up and I see the childlike wonder in her eyes. If I could make her feel like this all the time, I would. She's beautiful when she's like this.

"How did you discover this place?"

"My parents order from them when we have parties and stuff. But, they always order the pork burritos, which are dry as fuck. I can't stand them. So, one day I asked my dad if I could have the asada one and he said yes. From there, it's history."

"Are there anymore secret places I should know about?" I chuckle before answering.

"There's this other place down the road that has really good food for cheap. The only problem is that they guys who work there are all on coke and selling it too." She practically chokes on her food as I say that.

"Really?! That's so insane! Maybe that's why they have low prices. They make up the lost revenue from the coke."

We both start laughing so hard that we almost drop our food on the table. We place it carefully down so we can hold our stomachs. Next she says, "We will have to have them some time. Maybe a dinner date instead though."

"I would love to." And it's true too. I want to go on a real date with her. It's just about if my parents will let me. I hope they will. I'm so scared about losing her.

"That's great. Maybe on Sunday?" I nod my head due to having taken another bite of my delicious burrito. "I'll make sure to ask on Saturday night to make sure they are aware of my intentions." I swallow hard at that, but then realize she will just make something up and not out me. She wouldn't do that.

"So, what's your plans for this weekend?"

"Well, I'm going to the Bell Game tonight to cheer on our team. Then on Saturday I'm going out of town to visit a friend. Sunday I'm planning on spending with you." She has the biggest smile on her face right not, and I know it's not from this beautifully delicious burrito we both have devoured. "I'm just so excited and happy Spence." Not my smile is at least as big as hers.

"I can't wait for this weekend."

"Me either." And with that we grabbed our garbage and I was dropped off to my house to rest and prepare for the nights events. This year I'll be able to stay for all of it.


	16. The Bell Game

**Author's Note:** Want to see the real battle? Search Drumline Battle: Liberty High vs. Freedom High. Video is 8:25.

_Review Response:_

**DominoL:** Yes! And even more to come!

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At 3:00pm, I call Glenn to tell him I left him the car to drive home and that the keys are in my Band Locker. He asked why I wasn't at school so I told him I ditched due to not feeling well and got a ride home from a friend. He seemed to accept this and moved on like the typical 16 year old boy. I walk back up into my room and plop down on my bed.

I can't stand this. I'm scared and my thoughts are running wild. Thoughts of Ashley, my parents hating me, and this weekend are all clogging my brain. I must have been laying there for awhile because I didn't even hear Glenn pull in or come inside let alone come inside my room and take a seat in my red lounge chair.

"What's up with you Spence? I've been a little worried since I saw you talking to Ashley again..." he trails off.

"Nothing." I reply abruptly.

"You sure you have _nothing_ to tell me while we're home alone and Mom and Dad won't hear you?" He seems to insist that I talk to him, so I might as well.

"Well, there is something. I'm just not sure how anyone in this family is going to react to what I have to say."

"No matter what, I will always love and accept you for who you are." I look into his eyes and see the genuineness behind his words.

"I like Ashley... As more than a friend. We are kind of together, but not officially to everyone. We have been hanging out in secret to keep the 'rents off our backs. It's worked so far, but I think things are about to hit the fan. Ashley wants me to come over this weekend and I'm pretty sure I know why. I'm just so scared about what mom and dad will say when I tell them... Not that I'm telling then anytime soon, Hell no! I'd like to graduate before I live on my own." I keep rambling about Ashley and our parents for another minute before Glenn puts his finger to my mouth to silence me.

"Sis, I love you. I'm sure I'll learn to love Ashley too. But, if she breaks your heart or hurts you in anyway I will seriously kick her ass. I don't care if she's a girl." He's playing, but serious at the same time. I love my brother. He was the only one who felt comfortable enough to say any of this to right now. I hope he keeps my secret.

I get up off the bed and meet him halfway for a big hug. "I love you too Glenn, remember that." He nods.

"You excited for the game tonight?"

"Yeah. Luckily I don't have to participate in the halftime show due to my knee so I don't have to wear the uniform, just polo. Do you know where my heavy jacket is? It's gonna be a cold one tonight." He puts on his thinking face before very animatedly shouting Eureka! then rushing out of the room and down the stairs. I hear him rustling around before he heads back up and throws the jacket at me while he passes towards his own room mumbling he found it and to leave him alone. I shake my head and laugh. Only my brother.

I hear dad arrive with Clay so I head down to get a snack and say hey. Dad is practically asleep on the couch already so I grab my snack then head back up to my room. Clay is already parked in from of his X-Box playing one of his shooter games so I leave him be. Back in my room I eat my snack then move myself in front of the TV in my parents room. Boy Meets World is on and I love this show. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to grow up Clay's age. Never knowing classic shows like _Doug, All That, Kenen & Kel, Hey Arnold, Rugrats, AAAh Real Monsters, Angry Beavers, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Ren & Stimpy, Rocket Power, CatDog, Clarissa Explains It All, Rocko's Modern Life, Kablam!, The Amanda Show_, and so many more. I could never have become who I am if it wasn't for those shows.

It's approaching 5 so that means mom will be home soon. I get up and head to my room to get ready. I brush my hair and teeth then change into the polo and jeans. I left my Trumpet at school so I head downstairs to greet mom and get ready to leave. I give my mom a hug and she tells me she had a hard day at work, like always.

"Since I'm driving myself to the game tonight, I was wondering what time you wanted me home by...?"

Dad looked at mom then mom answered for him. "Just be home by 11:30pm sweetheart. I know that the game will end late and they have that drumline thing after. Just have fun hunny." She looks at my dad and sees the look in his eyes. He didn't like it, but he can't do anything about her.

"Thanks Mom!" With that, I'm off towards the school.

* * *

"Hey Spence! Let's get going. You're so lucky you don't have to do any of the marching."

"I know! I'd love to, but this damn knee of mine. It wont let me keep up."

"I'm sorry."

"It's no big. Thanks Jaime!"

"No problem. I'm always here for you."

We start towards the football field and I head to the stands with a couple others who aren't marching. We place our respected instruments in their spots then sit together and chat while the rest of the band is marching on the field for the National Anthem. They played it beautifully if I must say so myself.

The students return to the stands and take their places. Since it's only Pep Band, there's no real seating assignments so I decide to sit sort of towards the middle with a bunch of people who know me.

The game starts and our team does great. We score a touchdown within the first 2 minutes and kept scoring consistently the first half. By halftime we were up by 3 touchdowns and confident we would win the whole thing. The students get re-prepared to head to the field for the halftime show. They were playing some movie themes and making shapes to the music. As they left, one of the parent volunteers went to get our food order from the snack bar.

As I watching the band make their formations to _Pirates of the Caribbean, _I saw her. Ashley was here just like she said she was going to be! I took out my phone to try and call her, but she didn't answer. I quickly and carefully get up then run to catch her.

"Ash! Ashley!"

She turns around then gets the biggest smile on her face. "There you are! I was hoping I would see you tonight!"

"Well here I am. Whatcha doing?"

"Going to get something from the snack bar. But damn! Those are some long-ass lines."

"Follow me then." She looks puzzled but I take her by the hand and make her follow me. I take her around the back of the shack and knock on the door. My buddy Cary opens up and greets me.

"Spence! How you doing?" He look at my hand still in Ashley's then smirks while saying, "Looks like you're doing pretty well by the looks of things." Ashley quickly tries to release her hand from mine but I don't let her. "Oh! It's okay, I know Spencer is..." He trails off. "What can I getcha?"

I look at Ashley and she tells Cary her order which he promptly bring out and takes her money with his food discount. She tries to get him to let her pay full price but he wasn't having any of it. A girlfriend of Spencer is a friend of Cary as he put it. So basically, he had her back as long as she didn't fuck me over.

"That was nice of him to serve me from back there."

"Yeah well I've known Cary for years and he's gay too so we really reconnected around sophomore year. He is a great friend." She nods. Halftime is almost over so I start walking towards the band section. She follows me.

"You gonna eat?"

"Probably after a couple songs. I'm not that hungry yet. Want to sit with me?" She nods enthusiastically. I take her hand again and lead her to my spot. There was just enough room for her to fit next to me.

Ashley and I sit through the rest of the game together laughing and talking and watching the game. Our team won that night 41-15 so we get to keep the bell for the year. As the rest of the band starts to pack up their stuff, I know whats coming next.

I see the drumline get their gear on and warm up for the competition. Our rival was already in the designated spot testing acoustics. Ashley looks a little puzzled so I just smile and encourage her that this will be worth it. She smiles back and tilts her head. Gosh I love this girl.

Ashley and I follow the drumline to the spot under the scoreboard. Drum Majors banter back and forth for a few minutes before we let the guest take the lead.

They start in with some good beats and some pretty decent bass. Our bases easily match them and our cymbals pick up on the off beats. Their snares start in and lay down a really good set. But, I already know ours will be better. I've been listening in on the practices and I know we have this hands down. Our lead snare takes the charge and starts doing some crazy shit. I don't even know what to call it, it's that insane. They start in on the cadence they had been using during marching season, and everyone knows they haven't come in less than 2nd all season. Someone starts to rap and it basically kills our opponents chances. We know we've blown them away and there's nothing they can do to comeback, just like their football team. The crown erupts in cheers and they know we just killed it too. They all huddle together and yell a chant of victory before everyone dissipates for the night.

"Did you have fun?"

"Hell yeah! I've never seen anything like that before. It was pretty cool." She smiles.

"Well I've always thought so. I used to want to learn drums when I was a kid, but my dad refused. Dick."

"Well, I'm happy he made you choose something different. Who knows if you would be so good at kissing if you were a drummer." She winks at me and I turn away to blush. "Well, this is me. I had a really good time tonight."

"Me too. I doubt it would have been so good if I hadn't have found you."

"Me either. So, I'll see you later then?"

"Definitely."

"Good." She gets in her car and rolls down her window. "And Spence?" I turn back to face her as I had already begun walking away. "I can't wait until the next time we talk." She grabs my hand and puts it to her lips for a light kiss goodbye. The skin still tingles where it touched her lips.

"Me either" I say as I put my hand over my heart and smile.


	17. Grape Bowl Classic - No Awards Ceremony

I wake up at 7am so I can get ready to go to the competition. I put on my polo again and some jeans. I go downstairs and grab some toast for breakfast. I get carsick sometimes so I have a strict diet for driving days. Mom and dad were already awake and drinking their coffee while watching local news. I grab a seat at the table behind them and make myself as comfortable as I can in this always tense environment.

"You excited about today?" My mom asks on a commercial break.

"Yeah. It's a little bittersweet, you know?" She nods in understanding. She was in choir in high school. "I'm excited because it's going to be so much fun to go to that same chinese place we always go when we visit Lodi. At the same time, it's my last time even participating in any form of marching band, even if all I am doing in squirting water into their mouths hahaha." Mom laughs at this also while dad just goes back to the TV. Nice huh?

"Well you better get going sweetie. I hope you have a good time, and don't get too crazy with your friends." I walk over to where they're sitting on the couch and give them each a kiss and hug goodbye before walking towards the door leading to the garage.

"Spence."

I turn to face my father. He hasn't called me that since he found out I was gay. He stands up and gives me a second hug, making sure to whisper in my ear, "Good luck today, I hope you guys get 1st place. I love you." I smile inwardly at this as he releases me and rubs me on the shoulder before turning back to the couch and giving my mother a kiss on the lips before putting his arm around her and pulling her close.

* * *

I arrive at campus and park next to a few friends. My car has no valuables so it shouldn't get broken into. I remember when I was a freshman one of my trumpet superiors Stephanie had her car broken into and the stereo ripped out while we were in Santa Cruz. I remember seeing all the glass strewn everywhere and the wires hanging out from the stereo's previous home. I wasn't so lucky to have a nice stereo. I was stuck with the factory install, which could no longer properly read Cds. Radio it is!

The bus is already there and the hatches open, but nothing loaded. I'm one of the earlier volunteers so that I can help pack stuff to be loaded. I am only like 97 lbs. The drummers have already arrived and gotten most of their own stuff packed. The large instruments were getting put down below, including anything bigger than a Clarinet. Those and Flutes and Piccolos are to be carried on. Those who are marching are in half uniform upon arrival, while those who are volunteers or not marching are in polos and jeans.

Students randomly arrive before the call time, younger students arriving the latest. Mr. Chill calls us to attention by shouting that word to which we all jump to attention no matter what we're doing.

"I will put you at ease, but if I catch you interrupting I will put you, that person or people alone, back at attention. At. Ease." We all get at ease then settle down quickly and quietly. "So as you can see by the morning itinerary, we are still finishing up getting things packed and ready. Those who are ready to sign up for a bus may, but this will be by section as written on the left whiteboard." He motions towards it. "After that, you may load up if you want. Bus 1 has drum equipment and bus 2 has large instruments. Ready? Break!"

After that the room gets just as noisy as it was before. Since I was done with my duties for the morning, I went to check the bus lists. Drumline bus would be the best, but I know like half my friends will be on the other. What to do, what to do... It looks like all my friends who also participate in Drumline have already signed up, with some of my other friends signing up for the other, just like I predicted. The friends I get along with better are on Bus 1 so I chose that one. Plus, Chelsea's on that bus and I want to talk to her. I put my name on the list then give Chill a nod before heading to the bus.

Drummers were already done loading their stuff and on the bus in the back being overly loud. They had some portable speakers and a DVD player, junk food, and plenty of back-up batteries for the drive. Even though it was about an hour, we were expecting traffic and just being cautious.

"Spence! Come sit by me!" I hear Jaime call out from the back. Although be plays trumpet for regular marching, he plays quads for the cadence. He is sitting next to his girlfriend Devon with Chelsea behind. Chelsea motions for me to sit next to her so I do.

"How you doing Chels?"

"It's bittersweet. But, I'm doing well. How is everything?"

"Depends on what you want to know." I figure I'll let her ask and I'll just answer.

"Ok, well let's see. You and Ashley, what's going on there?" I knew she wouldn't beat around the bush.

"Stuff." She gives me the _You know what I mean_ look. "Well, we're doing fine. It seems like we are on a good path so far. I hope things don't change for the worst. I mean, I just... I just really like her is all."

"I can tell. I saw you guys at the game and seeing you together just made me smile. You guys just seem so close. So... I don't know, in love."

"Well I'm glad it seems that way. It feels real, ya know?" She nods. She knows what it's like to be in love. "She was being super cryptic this week though." Questioning look from Chelsea. "After she asked me to hang out today and I told her I couldn't because of this, she just said, 'Maybe I'll see you anyways'. Weird right?"

"That is weird. I wonder what she meant by that." I shrug because I truly have no idea. "Maybe she's going to surprise you with something."

"Maybe. I hope." A smile makes it way onto my face as I think about my surprise. Maybe something for tomorrow? Maybe she will... Oh, I don't know... Better not to guess anyways.

"How's home Spence. Last time we really talked, your mom and dad found out about you. Anything new?"

"Well, my mom doesn't bring it up. All she does is act like if I'm straight and asks me about boys all the time. I always have to tell her the same thing. No cute boys mom. None. Dad on the other hand called me Jenny today, which was surprising. He hasn't called me that since he found out." She nods. "I don't know. He's so weird. He gives me the cold shoulder sometimes and others he acts like he loves me. God I just hate him."

"No you don't Spence. You can't hate your father. He's your dad! It can't be that bad, can it?" The tears are starting towards the corners of my eyes as I just nod. "You can tell me anything. I won't judge I swear."

"Let's just say my family looks nice from the outside but is horrible on the inside." I say with venom dripping from me. "Let's just say, I'm scared of my dad. He really scares me. I hate going home, I hate hearing at him, talking to him and just seeing him. I HATE him."

"You don't really mean that, do you?"

"You have no idea how deep this goes."

"What do you mean by that?"

Before I can answer, Mr. Chill calls our attention. "Okay everyone! We are here. This is our last competition of the season, and the last for our Seniors." He continues to give instructions and what-not before letting us get off the bus.

I head off and with the others who aren't marching. There are about 4 students who can't march and a few parents who are volunteers. We get our assignments and go to do them. I'm on water duty like I thought. I'm too short to help pin hair, and too tall to get shoes polished as we had some kids who were more than willing to do it. I grab a couple waters for the band and a regular water bottle for myself.

Chill let's Chelsea take the lead and she calls the band to attention. They get in their lines and prepare to begin. Chelsea calls them to attention and those who can go around giving while simultaneously checking for stray hairs and other things out of protocol. We need to get the highest score possible, and that means checking everyone.

Chill gives Chels the signal and she starts the band towards the parade. She blows the whistle 5 times to set the beat of the walk, one long and 4 short. The band starts marching towards the parade area, taking a practice run as well. They sound pretty good, but they probably wouldn't score very high, especially without me.

That's when I see her. I see her running towards our group and waving like a maniac shouting for us to wait. She knows as well as I do this group won't stop so she'll have to catch up. What is she doing here anyways? Shouldn't she be at home in bed or something? Teenagers usually sleep in, right? Glenn does at least... We come to a halt at one of the resting area and the band is put at ease. We go around supplying water before they are called back to attention.

"I'm glad I caught up. Sorry I'm a little late Mr. Chill."

"I'm just glad you got here okay. Thanks for helping Ashley."

"It's no problem. I had nothing else to do today. Plus your going to sign off on my community service records, right?"

He chuckles before nodding then continuing on his way.

"Ash! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I figured if I couldn't see you at home, I'd see you here. Plus, all these people know your out right?" I think for a second before nodding yes. "Than that means I get to give you a proper hello this morning." She takes my hand in hers then pulling me to a stop when I didn't. She cups my face gently before giving me a gentle and sweet kiss. Nothing sloppy, just loving. I hear her voice as I start to reopen my eyes. "Good morning Spence."

The smile quickly grows on my face, even as I hear her chuckling to herself and dragging me to catch up with the group. We finally get to the competition area and Chelsea leads the group to the judges. First they check out our marchers for imperfections or movements. We have been thoroughly trained not to move no matter what. Even if a bug lands on you. Personally, I would still move if it was a Bee. Just saying. After the judges take their seats at the table, Chelsea starts them marching past the judges. Now the judges will be checking how straight our lines are and how accurate our music playing is.

They soon finish their parade route. We take the side way to get to the percussion cadence competition area. Ashley, a father who volunteered and I will be following while the rest of the volunteers tend to the other students. Ashley hands out some waters to the drummers and those from regular band like Jaime who are doing the cadence. I take our Marching Tuba and put it away since that player is playing cymbals. After Jaime gets his quads out, we reset the roller with cases. Ashley was holding Jaime's trumpet for me while I help. I take it from her and take his mouthpiece out and put it in my pocket.

Our drumline starts it's cadence and goes through their routine and music past a different set of judges. Once they are finished Jaime packs his quads and the tuba player grabs his case. It has wheels on it so it's more a pull than carry. I put Jaime's mouthpiece back in his trumpet then give it back to him. Ashley hands the drummers some waters.

We start to head to get the pictures taken. I won't be in it since I didn't participate in the marching, but that's okay I have some from the past that are so much better than these would ever be. Jaime gets his quads back out for the drumline pictures as everyone else gets ready for the marching band pictures. As they load in, Ashley and I take a seat under a tree. She takes my hand and starts rubbing small circles with her thumb onto the back on it. I look into her eyes and smile another one of those truly genuine smiles. I lay my head back against the tree and close my eyes to listen. I hear some people directing my fellow classmates for the pictures. I hear some birds. There's an airplane flying above us somewhere that I can hear. I also hear her breathing. I can just think about her she takes my breath away. I feel her shift next to me and can hear the dirt and rocks and leave move with her. I feel her unoccupied hand move to my face where her thumb gently moves back and forth over my cheek bone. I can feel her shift again ever so slightly as if trying to perfect her position. I hear her tongue lick her lips quickly and I feel the intake of air that leave my face before I feel it hit it once more but from much closer. I feel her lips magically touch mine and I am shocked by how the electricity seems to flow like a current between us. Or maybe the electricity is coming from me and she is just the copper that is conducting it. I don't know, but what I do know is that she feels so good and right. I've never felt better in my life, and never felt more alive. I feel that her thumb never stopped the circles on my hand.

She pulls back after a minute and I leave my eyes closed. My free hand makes it's way to my lips as if to check for reality. She's really here and that really just happened.

The pictures have been taken and the students have undressed themselves in the appropriate boy or girl bus. Those in polos do not change, but pack. We get everything pack up and are ready to head to lunch. Chill always takes us to the same shopping center. It has some fast food, some grocery, mexican and chinese. As is tradition, me and my group of friends always go to the chinese place. It's one of the best I've ever had thus far.

We get the long table in the back like always since we are such a large group. I pull Ashley into the seat next to me and hand her a menu. She orders some diet soda while I have water. Soda doesn't sit well with me. I hate the carbonation. We order our respective meals then chit-chat with the others.

"What was that I saw under the tree you two?" Jaime of course will be the first to ask. I just blush while Ash shakes her head. "Aww come on! It looked like a really sweet moment."

"So you guys saw it then?" They all nod. Why would I expect anything different. We were facing them after all. "Well I'm glad you all enjoyed the show."

"Wasn't much of one! Not even any tongue!" I take a shot at Jaime's arm playfully and he takes one back.

Our food is delivered and we take a few minutes to try everything out. Ashley gives me some of hers and I share as well. This earns a smile from Chelsea and a nod from Jaime. He takes out his phone then looks at it for awhile before putting it in between me and Ashley. We both lean in close and almost hit our heads. I gasp at the sight, then smile at the picture of us. He shot is right after she kissed me. It was Ashley sitting back in her spot and looking at me with the most loving look ever. I have my eyes still closed and my hand resting on my heart. Her hand was in mine and her thumb making circles. I can't believe he managed to get a shot of us.

"Do you have picture messaging?" Ashley asks towards Jaime. He nods. "May I?"

"Of course."

"Thanks." She sends her phone a picture message and once received hands Jaime's phone back to him. She takes her own phone out of her purse and saves the picture to her memory card. I can't believe he had that. It's amazing. She smiles at me then we finish our food.

Back at the buses, I have to ride on one because I didn't have a waiver saying it was okay to ride with Ashley. She follows us back to campus where we unload then put everything back in the band room. Ashley and I walk to our cars then she follows me to my house. She still insists on talking to my parents directly. Hopefully that will work.

I park then she parks behind me. I get out and she follows me up and around to the front door. "Spence, it's weird that your door is kind of on the side of the house."

"I know, I didn't design it though." I open the front door and let in then I follow her. I lock the door on my way in.

"Hey honey! How was it?"

"It was good. We won't know results till at least Monday."

"Whose your friend Spence?" I lead Ashley into the living room.

"Mom, Dad, this is Ashley."

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Carlin. It's very nice to meet you."

"Likewise." Mom continues talking while Dad, who has yet to say anything continues watching TV.

"So, Ashley. Do you have a boyfriend?" I must have zones out. It's already been 20 minutes since I've arrived home and she's barely getting to the boyfriend question. Good for you mom!

"No, not at the moment. I've been focusing on school and trying to graduate with the best grades possible." Perfect answer. "Can I ask you and Mr. Carlin something?" Dad looks over at her and nods. "Well, I was wondering if it would be okay for Spencer to sleepover at my house tonight."

"Well I don't see why not. Spencer has been pretty good lately and keeping up in school too. Arthur?"

"What time will you be home tomorrow?"

"Ummmm"

"What time would you like her home sir?" Ashley asks.

"Are you finished with your homework for the weekend?"

"Yes, I've finished everything that's due on Monday. I was planning on doing homework due on Tuesday on Monday." He nods.

"I'll make a deal with you Spence." There he goes using the nickname he hasn't used for awhile besides this morning. "Leave the car keys here so Glenn and Sean still have a ride. Keep your phone on and charged and answer no matter when we call. Lastly, dishes for an extra week. Then, you can spend tonight and tomorrow night with her and she will give you a ride to school Monday morning."

I look to Ashley to which she shrugs. "Sure dad, that sounds like a deal." He nods then stands up. I stand as well then get ready for the hug I know is coming. You know that song _I Hate Everything About You_ by Three Days Grace? That song is so playing in my head right now. I release from his hug and grab Ashley by her hand and drag her upstairs to my room.

"What the hell was that about?"

"That's my dad for you. Never expect anything to come without a price. I thought it was interesting though that he only offered 1 week for 2 nights." Shrugs from Ashley. "I'm gonna pack a couple of extra outfits so I don't smell okay?"

"You can always shower at my place."

"I know." I grab some more essentials and get pack super quick. "Now, let's get outta here before he changes his mind!" I hand her my stuff and tell her to go wait in the car with it. I run downstairs and give them kisses goodbye before running out the front door and locking it behind me. The rest of this weekend is going to be interesting.


	18. Mom

**Author's Note:** Sorry for the lack of an update. Had the holidays, then my birthday, then family issues, then computer issues. First times I've been on a laptop instead of a tablet since mid-January. It's a shorter one, but I'm still going.

* * *

"Where are we going?" I whine at her. I can't help it. I kinda hate not knowing the plan, but Ash told me she's not going to ruin the surprise. Has she been planning this all along?

"Come on! I promise to still act surprised!" Nope, she's not budging on this one. Not one little bit. Damn.

"Fine. But we're not leaving the state right?" She chuckles before nodding no and continuing to drive us to God knows where.

"We're here! Wakey Wakey Spencey."

I fell asleep. I can sleep almost anywhere. Couches, floors, cars, beds. It's sundown. Sun's not completely down yet, but it has started its decent. I rub the sleep out of my eyes and get rid of those nasty eye booger thingies. Gross! Anyways... I see lots of trees. I have no idea where we are.

"Where are we?"

"We are visiting my mom in Santa Cruz. She wanted me to come by this weekend since there's no school on Monday." Wait! Hold up! There's no school on Monday?! "It's Veteren's Day." Oh.

"Oh shit! That means today was Clay's birthday and I never even talked to him. I'm a horrible big sister."

"No you're not! Just call him right now. I'm sure he'll answer."

I do just that. I whip my phone out so fast I almost dropped it. I didn't though, I swear. I dial his number and with each ring hoping for him to answer. He doesn't. He never does. But then again if you were a turning 13 would you answer to your older sister that you don't get along with? Me either.

"Hey Clay! Just calling to say I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to say Happy Birthday to you. I can't believe you're already 13. My little brother is growing up. Next thing you know you'll get a deep voice and have to start shaving! Have fun and don't play Halo so much your eyes fail you! Love you."

"That was sweet Spence. You're such a good sister." Smiles appear.

"Why does your mom live in Santa Cruz."

"You'll find out in a minute." We pull up to a secluded house. There's a gate and they are building a new house on the property. There's 2 big dogs running around like crazy at the gate and barking. I'm not sure what kind they are. Never been good with breeds.

"Shut up you damn mutts!"

"That would be mom." I nod. Ashley lets us in past the dogs, who have decided to try and jump up on us. A lot. "Down, Down!" They finally listen.

"Hey Ashley! I can't believe you made it. Earlier than I was expecting you, but you made it." Her mom gives her a big hug then turns towards me. "Is this her?" Ashley nods. That's when I'm pulled up into a huge bear-hug.

"Mom! Please don't break her! I really like this one." I get put down then see the blush on Ashley's face. She knew I heard that last part. Clearing her throat, she continues, "So this is Spencer mom. Spencer, this is my mom Christine."

"It's nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you too. What brought you out of the East Bay to here?"

"Let me show you." That was a little cryptic. What did she mean by that...

That's when she lets us into her house. The odor was unmistakable. Weed.

Ashley grabs my hand and whispers, "I know you weren't expecting this. I'm sorry if this shocks you." Then she gives me quick peck on the cheek.

"So, it may not be the best job, but it's a good one. I'm working on making my own line of goods to sell in stores. I'm not giving away what they are yet, but they will be revolutionary." Ashley gives her the _you better clarify your statement_ look. "God Ashley! They won't be laced! That would be illegal." Ashley nods in approval. "Let me show you around."

To the right after walking in there's a bedroom. Big bed, big tv, cable, looks nice. Then you have some kind of living area with a computer or 2 and some chairs at a desk. Further back there's an unfinished kitchen then a bathroom and that's it. We were taken outside to a trailer where Christine talked to us about how this was her baking trailer and no matter how much she loved pot, she can't have that smell all over all of her stuff. Next we are taken into the unfinished house.

According to Christine her friend/boyfriend/not really her boyfriend Phil is building this and it's his property. The old house burned down so he's rebuilding. That's where they grow at. They do everything legally according to California law, so they won't be arrested for that locally or state wise. Federally though I guess she's on her own. We had to climb up some make-shift latter and through a hole to get to them, and one of those dogs followed us everywhere. I don't have anything bad to say about what she does for a living.

"So, that's the tour. Hope you enjoy your stay at Casa Christine!" Laughing ensues.

"Where do we stay mom?"

"Stay in the trailer. It'll be fine. I left you guys some goodies, so have fun and be safe!"

Ashley gives her mom the _OMG what did you just say? And what did you leave us?_ bugging out look.

"Thanks Christine!" I say then drag Ashley by the arm to the trailer. We enter and immediately smell 2 distinct odors. The first is of pot, a lot of pot. The second is of baked goods. Oh My God these baked goods smell so good.

"Sooo..." Ashley draws out. "What did you think of my mom?"

"She's not what I expected, that's for sure."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't tell you about all her dealings earlier. It's just... You know how people will react when they find out. Teachers and authority figures who don't know us will judge us." I nod in understanding. "Mom left dad when I was 15. She said she just needed to get out there and experience life. That she loves her kids and would do anything for them but this is one thing she has to do for herself. I cried for days after she left. I never fully forgave her for that. I mean, she abandoned us when we were going to need her most. Dad is too shy to talk to us about our bodies and whatever, so he gave us a textbook to read. We looked everything up on the internet instead." She smiles at the memory, which makes me smile too.

"It's okay. How is everything going now?"

"Everything is a lot better now. Dad is dating around, never settling down. He's probably waiting for her to come back to him. That's gotta be why they haven't officially divorced yet." Her face turns to one of contemplation. "I heard them on the phone though. I think he's finally fed up with her."

"I'm sorry to hear that Ash."

"It's okay. It's not your fault or anything." I nod. "So what is all of this stuff?" She wonders out loud. It seems like they haven't cleaned up for awhile, but then again why clean up when you use the same stuff every day. Oh, well I see some dishes soaking in the sink, so maybe they just clean in the mornings? There's lots of baking supplies, packaging supplies, a TV with cable, a radio, some bedding, but not much else.

"Let's set up a bed, get changed, and have some fun." Ashley's got this mischievous smirk on her face that makes me gulp. Loud. Nervousness is taking over. Shit. She seems to have either caught onto my sudden silence and lack of any form of an answer, or she heard me gulp. Either way, she says "But nothing you don't want to of course. We don't even have to be in the same sleeping area." Her smirk has changed into a sweet smile. One that shows how much she cares about me. One I can read perfectly. I know what I'm doing.


End file.
